Rainbow Dash: Pitch Black
by BemnalTheFallen
Summary: (MLP/Riddick crossover.) Rainbow Dash... Repeat convict... murderer, monster, animal... I finally caught her. She gave me a nasty little gift next to my spine; but she missed the Sweet Spot. Too bad. I've got her chained up as we take a ghost lane to the best paying slammer nearby. But then something went wrong, we crashed... she got loose... and then ponies started dying.
1. The Animal Side

Rainbow Dash: Pitch Black

(MLP/Riddick crossover.) Rainbow Dash... Repeat convict... murderer, monster, animal... I finally caught her. She gave me a nasty little gift next to my spine; but she missed the Sweet Spot. Too bad. I've got her chained up as we take a ghost lane to the best paying slammer nearby. But then something wen wrong, we crashed... she got loose... and then ponies started dying.

That's right! Yet another movi-based story to add to my collection!

Some of my other movie based stories:

The Legend of Celestia Futarius.

Sisters in Blood and Magic, a Tale of Witches and Love.

Dash, Dog of War.

***DISCLAIMER***

I do not own MLP: FIM or Riddick nor do I have any afiliations with them, there producers, or their benifactors. I make no money off this work of fiction.

***DISCLAIMER***

****************************Warning*************** ******

Gore.

Swearing.

Anthro.

*****************************warning************** *********

Chapter One, The Animal Side

-There are two sides to everypony. The rational, thinking, logical equine side... and then there is the primitive... survival... dark... violent... animal side... the side that refuses to die; that fights only for itself... the side that does anything to stay alive... the Animal Side.- excerpt from the secret book of Bemnal the Fallen

The depths of space... just a long... endless... mass of pitch black... filled with the most infentesimal specks of white...

And through the darkness... a lone space ship drifts through the void...

Crosing over through a dust filled ring trailing behind a comet...

"They say say most of brain shuts down in Cryo sleep... all but the primitive side... the animal side..."

...

...

"No wonder I'm still awake..." Dash's thoughts rang out in a methodical stream; even here in the most silent... cold depths of space... still... still her mind couldn't sleep... even here in the ship... strapped up against the wall lined with passengers and of course... her...

"Transporting me with civilians... sounded like 40... 40+... I heard a soft Pegasus voice... some voodoo Druid mare... probably on her way to New Everfree... but one problem... one problem..." Fluttershy was her name... dressed in priestess garbs, deep in a hibernetic slumber like the rest... tall... fit... old...

Dash's senses continued to scan the ghost ship among the other cryo tubes.

"Smelt a mare... sweat... leather horseshoes, toolbelt, a hide stitched hat, fresh apples... farmer type..." A yello mare with a briliant blonde mane... Applejack... yet another silent passanger amidst the darkness...

"Free settlers... and they only take the backroads... through the uncharted regions of space..." Ah... Minuette... just looking for a cheap transport to a new job outside the Delta Sector... and yet another, next to her chamber, a Unicorn, alabaster white with a violet styled mane... Rarity; deals in antiques... though more than a few of them were attained by unsavory means... had to avoid the inspections at the edges of each galactic station you see... and thus, she'd lowered herself to joining this unregistered, quiet ship in its silent journey... And then there was the tiny stowaway... little Scootaloo, bearly in her teens; passing herself off as a colt, hidden amongst the 40+ passangers.. little orange Pegasus, wings too weak and small to fly; tuffet of purple mane...

And at last... Dash's senses landed on a tall muscled sleeping Earth Pony with a flare of pink coat and a dark pink curtian of mane, "now here's my real problem... Ms. Pinkamena... blue eyed devil... planing on taking me back to slam... only this time she picked a ghost lane..."

And yet again... Dash's mind went back into its own recesses... quiet... silent... waiting... stalking... "A long time between stops... a long time for something to go wrong..."

And then it happened... tiny space fragments of a rogue meteor storm ripped through the hull like high calibur bullets; they pierced through the metal; air began flowing out into the vacuum of space.

Twilight stirred; her Cryo Sleep interupted; her mind hazy from the prolonged rest. What was that? A blinking... a blinking on the screen... A picture on the glass of her tube: EMERGENCY P280 HULL BREACH.

NAV - BAY SECTOR.

Atmosphere loss: 21.60 MB/MIN.

Gravity: +.830 g.

Chrono: + 22 WEEKS FROM DEPARTURE DATE

Twilight's eyes blinked sporadically before coming into focus.

40 CRYO-LOCKERS INTACT AND OPERATIONAL

CAPTAIN: SHINING ARMOR-WAKING

NAV OFFICER: SPIKE-WAKING

DOCKING PILOT: TWILIGHT SPARKLE-WAKING

Through the glass, her eyes focused on the two cryo pods just across the room; it happened so quickly... more meteorite shards sailed through the air and shredded Shining's pod, the blades cut through metal and flesh like paper. The stallion's body spazmed before falling limp against the hole-ridden glass.

The glass' screen in front of Twilight's face raged with warning lights.

CAPTAIN: SHINING ARMOR-FLAT-LINE

NAV OFFICER: SPIKE-WAKING

DOCKING PILOT: TWILIGHT SPARKLE-AWAKE

Twilight's mind raced as her heartrate accelerated, she reached over with a shaky hand to the emergency switch; with a weak yank from her stiff body, the pod released and she fell onto the ground with an unceremounious thud.

With the emergency switches linked, Spike's own pod thrust open and he too fell out landing ontop of Twilight causing her to cough out the small amount of air she'd managed to inhale. In the background; the emergency alarm rung out while red lights flashed through the decks.

"Why did I fall on you..." Spike breathed out as his mind regained its functioning processes.

Twilight, her mind still reeling could only respond with, "He's dead... Captain's dead..."

Spike crawled up into his elbows and flipped open his com wrist lock before shuffling up to his knese even as Twilight coughed, "I was looking right at him..."

Spike didn't register his words as he surveyed the computer's log, "the log shows we've only been 20 weeks out so-so gravity was not supposed to kick in until in for another nineteen! Why did I fall at all?!"

Twilight got onto her hands and kneese, "did you hear what I said?! Captain's dead..."

Spike turned and saw Shining's ruptured cryo tube. Behind them they could hear more meterorites ravaging the ship.

With a singular look, they both knew they had to move... fast...

Twilight and Spike both rushed into the two front-most pilot's seats with Twilight at the helm. "Fifteen, fifteen milabars..." Twilight said more to herself as she flipped various switches, "dropping twenty mb per minute... SHIT! We're hemoredging air!" she put her jacket on as the room's temperature began to drastically drop. "Something took a swipe at us."

Spike shook his head as he flipped through a few consol switches, "come on... come on, just tell me we're still in the shipping lane! Just show me all those stars... come on!" he flipped through the camera's until... "Show me all those big bright..." he trailed off as he stared agape at the screen.

Twilight blinked, "what?" she turned and saw the camera's feedback only to see that they were headed straight along a collision course with a nearby planet. Twilight turned back to the Spike and the two shared a grim look.

Outside, the ship cought fire as it sailed towards the planet's surface, the metal turning molten as it soared towards the atmosphere at the worst possible angle; straight downt towards the surface.

Inside, Spike quickly hooked up the coms, "this is an emergency dispatch from burtrom vessel Books and Branches, we're in the Cadenza system with 40 surviving commerceal passangers on board! Repeat-"

Twilight crawled up into the direct cockpit of the ship above Spike's control room and strapped herself into the chair as Spike continued his distress signal "-we have been knocked out of our shipping lane and are currently entering the atmosphere of an uncharted planet in the following position, X38-Stroke-5-"

Spike's words faded from Twilight's mind as she took the outter metal shield down and through the glass screen of the ship's helm, she saw the inferno consuming the vessel as they sailed down towards the planet... a few seconds later, the com systems were melted and peeled away from the ship's exterior.

Spike's eye twitch as his headset offered only static, "Twi... where the hell's our coms?"

Twilight didn't answer as she backed the chair up and ressed a few switches to open up the emergency breaks. In the back exterior of the Books and Branches, four large pannels flipped out to create drag, but within seconds one of them was torn off from the tremendous velocity.

The now three pannels caused the drag to hurl the ship around in a spinning carousel of death. Twilight and Spike jerked around as the ship twirled above the pale yellow clouds of the planet below.

"RATE OF DECENT, BEYOND TOLERABLE. RATE OF DECENT, BEYOND TOLERABLE" the computer chimed out as the clouds whipped around the front glass of Twilight's cockpit.

Down in the lower deck, Spike continued to do what he could in the control room, "they trained you for this right Twilight?!"

Back in the cockpit, Twilight whirled around and began flipping the secondary drag pannels. One... two... three... fo- the Switch cought. Twilight's eyes whipped to it in frenzied panic, she yanked and yanked. 'Shit, shit, shit, SHIIIT!' she mentally screemed as the computer chimed out "center of gravity... too far out... recomend purge."

And so she did, Twilight flipped the switches, turned the dials and pulled the purge lever dropping off the back section of the elongated ship and sending parts of the cargo bay flying off into space.

Spike's eye twitched, "what the fu..." he glared up at the ceiling, "was that a purge Twi?!"

"TOO HEAVY IN THE ASS! CAN'T GET MY FUCKING NOSE DOWN!" Twilight yelled back before purging the next section... and the next... and the next... yet still it wasn't enough to level the ship... but... the only section left was... the... one with the passengers in it...

Spike began running a diagnostics of the planet, "cryo systems are good, mineral deposits of nitrogen and carbon... atmosphere shows at least some oxygen, though severely lower than Equis; and terrain 220 meters over mean surface... deposits of Chraeyomalachite? Isn't that refined Changeling excremint used for their hives? But the terrain looks way too dry for them to surv..." he trailed off as he heard doors locking behind him... he turned to see the corridor to the passanger section closed off. His heart skipped a few beats, "Twi... what the fuck do you think you're doing..."

Upstairs, Twilight finished purge loading process, she stared at the screen with small rappid breaths, "... I gotta drop more load..." on the screen held the words: PURGE ALL?

XXXXX

Back inside the passanger section, Fluttershy shook her head as the cryo systems shut down, then so did AJ... and Rarity... and the rest of the 40 passangers. Pinkamena's eyes slowly fluttered open, and directly across from her, she saw Dash restrained by every means conveivable within her own pod as the red lights flashed.

XXXXX

"Look, I tried everything else and I still got no horizon."

Spike glared up at the ceiling, "well you better try everything twice 'cause there's no way we just flush out th-"

"LOOK IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING ELSE, get your ass up here and take the chair-"

"Listen, company says we are responsible for every single one of those ponies Twi!"

Twilight stared off into the burning glass, "what, we both die of sheer fucking nobility?" she said as she held her hand on the purge level.

Spike began furiously unbuckling himself, "don't you touch that handle TWI!"

Twilight let go and grabbed the steering controls... she looked back up at the switch.

Down in the control room; Spike manually overid the seal off door and forced them open before sticking a solid piece of reinforced steel bar intebtween the somewhat open doors.

Twilight's eyes widened as her breath became ever more ragged, she stared out towards the endless mass of the planet; the ship juttered and bounced uncontrollably. This was it... a sinlge choice... Equinity... morality... survival... rationality... logic... will to live...

The Equine side... and the Animal Side...

Twilight looked up at the purge lever.

The Equine side... and the Animal Side...

She grabbed it and pulled. But it cuaght and locked. She yanked. She yanked again and again and again; the computer chimed out. "AIR LOCK DOORS BLOCKED. ERROR AIR LOCK DOORS BLOCKED."

"SPIIIIKE!" Twilight shouted in rage.

"Seventy seconds Twilight! You have seventy seconds to level this beast out!"

Twilight roared and pounded her fists against the consol; she didn't wanna die here! Not here! Not like this! Not over pitty fucking morality! Who cares about those ponies?! Like she was ever going to see any of them or their families ever again! She just wanted to fucking live!

She kicked her hoof against the jammed break pannel lever; she kicked again, and again, and again, each time harder as she screemed out like an a berserk animal fighting over territory. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" With one last kick the lever loosed and slid into position.

Twilight blinked... she stared out the glass in disbelief; the final emergency panels flipped out and the ship finally began to level.

Then one of the pannels peeled off and slammed into the glass shattering it to pieces; Twilight covered her face with her arms as she summoned up a barrier... only no magic came to her horn...

Tiny shards of glass bombarded her as she covered her face with her arms.

"What the fuck is happening up there?!" Spike shouted at the ceiling of the control room.

XXXXX

Pinkamena opened her pod and fell out onto the ship's deck; she shook her head and uneasily got to her hooves.

XXXXX

Twilight's eyes watered as the full force of the turbulant winds blasted her face; the ship sailing just a few hundred feet from the surface. The g-force was causing the skin on her face to be pushed back against the chair, her body shook in tiny rappid vibrations and her heart... she couldn't even register how fast her heart was beating as every vein in her boody pumped adrenalin through her system.

XXXXX

Pinkamena shook her head and looked around; she saw Dash, still restrained in her pod.

XXXXX

Twilight's body almost flowed like water as the wind sailed by; the equine mind wasn't meant to handle speeds of this calibur in raw exposure... the sheer gravitational force... her mind idly remembered the pilot training in the g-force simulator... she'd passed out at around 7-Gs...

That was nothing compared what she felt right now.

She couldn't even register the scanner's distance reader; 45 feet from the surface of the plannet, 42... 39... 37... 34...

Faster and faster, so much speed, so much pressure... so much air rushing past; the ground below, the rough terrain and sand rushed underneath like a golden see with a milion waves flowing past in an almost unrecognizable siezmic mesh.

Time almost seemed to slow... her eyes open... so open... the veins bulging against the retina. The ground, so close.

30, 28, 24, 20, 18. For one split moment, she was aware of everything, the sound of the alarm, the flash of the lights; the computer's SYSTEM ALERT message, the consol's lights blinking.

15, 11, 5.

Her eye flittered, moved, so open, so wide, so aware.

And then it happened, the explosion of electrical light as the sand rushed in shredding the consols; she covered her face and curled into a fetal position as the soil shot forth through the cockpit.

Down in the com room, Spike's body was tostled around like a rag doll.

XXXXX

Pinkamena's ears twitched as the sound of tearing metal filled the room. Suddenly, there wasn't a room any more; the walls ripped apart, the severe pressure and turbulance nearly sucked her out into the open; she latched her arms around a nearby column as more and more of the ship was torn asunder by the rocky terrain and gritty sand that grinded away at the ship.

Pinkamena's eyes went wide as she saw the rear of the ship obliterated before her. The majority of the passanger hold was sent to oblivion and only the front most section of it remained.

XXXXX

Twilight's free moving chair twirled around as the sand flew past, ever faster, ever stronger, ever more pressure.

And then there was darkness...

XXXXX

...

...

The few survivors couged up dust and pushed fallen debris off their bodies, they called out to each other and helped one another out.

Pinkamena kicked off the plate of metal that covered her body before standing up, her head was dizzy and nauseous from the fall, the pressure, the colapse, everything.

Looking up, she saw Dash's tube bearing the letters LOCKOUT PROTOCAL NO EARLY RELEASE

... it was empty...

Pinkamena slowly crouched and reached for her side arm only to find nothing there, "shit..." she reached around for a few minutes before spotting an open hatch. She hopped down it into a lower deck and pulled out a small flashlight.

Cautiously, she made her way through the ship, searching for any sign of Dash. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her gun. She carefully began to reach down for it when something wrapped around her neck; the hoof binds of Dash; they snuggly encased Pinkamena's neck like a garrot wire around a cheese wedge.

One of Pinkamena's hands rushed up to grab the restraint while the other went to her extendable police baton; she whipped the carbon fiber up against Dash's thigh as the cyan mare hung by the metal wires above.

The baton then whipped Dash's ribs over and over and over. Pinkamena could feel conciousness slipping away from her, her heart beat slowing, and slowing...

Then the petal coils supporting Dash snapped from their combined weight and Dash slammed into the ground below.

Pinkamena quickly got her hooves with her baton in the air; but Dash lay their not moving.

Pinkamena panted and retracted her baton, "Somepony's gonna get hurt one of these days..." she chuckled through her sore throat, "and it aint gonna be me."

XXXXX

Twilight shuffled aside sheets of metal as she dug around for Spike, she yanked and yanked on large broken equipment.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Minuette worked to get one of the surviving pods open that had fuzed shut from the intense heat of the crash. Minutte lit a cutting torch and slowly managed to unseal the pod. With a pop, the lid fell open and Scootaloo rolled out. She fell on her back and looked up with a bewildered expression, "so... I guess something went wrong?" she asked with a forced gruffness in her voice in an attempt to sound like a colt.

Twilight finally got hold of Spike's chair and yanked it to a position in which the Dragon's chest faced towards the ceiling. And from his chest protruded a long steel rebar.

Twilight' jaw quivered.

"... ... I'm sorry..." she whispered out as she felt tears beginning to sting at her eyes; she layed a hand on his forhead.

Suddenly, he began to screem; Twilight lept back in surprise.

The other survivors drew near.

Twilight went to grab the rebar just as Spike shouted, "DON'T TOUCH IT! DON'T YOU TOUCH THAT HANDEL TWI!"

The other ponies argued over what to do.

"Should we take it out?" "no, no it's too close to his heart."

Twilight panted, "th-there's some menestaphine in the medlock in the back of the cabbin!"

Rarity turned and looked in the direction of the destroyed vessel before turning back to Twilight, "not anymore there's not."

Pinkamena scrateched her chin with her thumb.

Twilight gazed down at Spike's spasming form, "... get outta here... everypony..." the ponies got up to leave while Twilight pet Spike's head comfortingly as he bled out.

Scootaloo and Pinkamena were the last to leave, and as they made their way towards the exit of the ruined ship, Pinkamena turned to look at the now restrained Dash, bound to one of the remaining support beams, her eyes covered with a blindfold; a metal bit still forcing her mouth open; hands bound behind her around the beam.

XXXXX

Outside, Fluttershy and the three zebra foals she was escorting to New Everfree washed their hands in the dry sand of the planet's desert before standing up to pray to the eldritch gods.

Applejack dusted herself off and shielded her eyes from the two intense suns hanging low in the sky. Rarity held up her glases, one of the lenses severely cracked, she sighed before putting them on.

Pinkamena stared down at her compass, the dial spinning around chaotically; "interesting." she sighed as she looked out over the vast empty plains.

After a few minutes, all of the survivors: Twilight, Pinkamena, Rarity, AJ, Fluttershy, the three foals, Scootaloo, and Minuette all climbed up to the top of the half burried vessel.

"Is anypony else having difficulties breathing?" Rarity asked as she held her chest.

"Ya, Ah feel one lung short..." AJ replied.

"I feel like I just... ran or something..." Scootaloo panted.

When Twilight climbed up to join the rest, AJ spoke, "there was talk of a scoutin' party lookin' fer other ponies but..." she turned and gestured towards the mile long crater behind the ship, "then we saw this..."

Aside from the cockpit and the remaining section of the passegner hold, the rest of the ship was in pieces strewn throughout the line that seemed to stretch on and on into the desert.

"What the hell happened?" Minuette asked as she turned to Twilight.

The Unicorn shrugged, "could have been a meteor storm... or the anti-magic field of the planet messing with the enchanted systems... might have been a rogue comet... I don't know."

"Well, Ah for one am thoroughly greatful!" mused Applejack, "this ship here wasn't made tah land like this but..." she scratched her head, "Ah think ya did well. Actually the only reason we're alive is 'cause o' her."

Twilight suddenly found it difficult to swallow.

"Yes I suppose you're right." piped Rarity, "thanks very much."

Twilight's legs felt week.

Scootaloo patted her shoulder, "ya, thanks for saving our dicks."

"No really, thank's awfully." reprimanded Rarity.

Twilight's eyes twitched a bit and her breath felt short.

AJ put a hand on her other shoulder, "well done."

XXXXX

A few minutes later inside the ship, Twilight stared contemplatively at Rainbow Dash when she heard Pinkamena speak; "she just escaped from a maximum security prison."

Twilight let out a breath and crossed her arms as she leaned agains a beam, "so do we just keep her locked up forever?"

pInkamena chuckled, "well, now that'd be my choice."

Twilight looked back at Dash and then to Pinkamena, "is she really the dangerous?" she whispered.

To this, Pinkamena chuckled, "only around ponies."

XXXXX

A small ways away, Rarity was scuffling around inside one of the ruined cabbins, "the whole thing got turned around, it's all topsy turney." turns out, one of the cabbins that Twilight had purged contained all of Rarity's antiques, including the alchohol.

Rarity undid the lock around the changed and opened up a container; smiling, she took one of the bottles out, "well, thank goodness it's not a total loss!" she chirped.

"Booze?" Twilight asked with a cocked eyebrow, "this is what you have to drink?"

"I'm gonna need a recipt for that!" Rarity snapped, "for all of this, this is my personal stash!"

Twilight turned and aimed her flashlight at Fluttershy, "I don't suppose this will help you at all?"

Fluttershy shook her head, "unfortunately, it is not permitted, especially while on Hotch."

pinkamena turned back to look at the butter yellow Pegasus atop the staircase, "you do realize there's no water right?"

"All deserts have water," she replied, "it only waits to be found." Fluttershy replied cryptically.

"All the more for me then!" Rarity chimed before closing the casket.

XXXXX

Dash's ears flickered... nopony... she was completely alone... she turned and gazed up at a break in the support beam. Even through her blindfold her eye shine saw the shape of the construct.

And in front of her, a hanging cutting torch attatched to a wire that could easily make its way through her restraints.

Dash slowly stood up and began to raise her arms behind her back; rasing higher and higher and higher until they reached their limit. She kept pressing. The bones made a crunching sound as her shoulders dis-located; raising higher and higher; her thick bulging muscles forced the joints back into place as they reached their apex.

At last she got her bind through the break in the column and fell to her kneese. Her hooves still bound to a restraint attatched to the ground, she fell forward and snatched the cutting torch.

XXXXX

Pinkamena sprinted along the desert sand until she reached Dash's severed restraints.

The Earth Pony picked the binds up and growled, "mother fucker..." she looked around and saw nothing but empty deserts and elevated mountains.

With a roar, she threw the binds into the sand and stomped back to the crash site.

XXXXX

Inside the ruins of the Books and Branches, Pinkamena opened her weapons casket, secured a pistol behind her back and loaded her combat shotgun.

Meanwhile, Rarity stepped in with a few scythe looking objects, leather shields, and blow dart guns from what remained of her antiques.

"What are those?" Twilight asked in curiousity.

"Obsidian war picks from northern Gryphonia. Very rare." Rarity answered.

Minuette picked up the blowdart, "and this?!"

"That's a hunting blowdart from the buffalo tribes outside of Appleoosa, which is verry, verry, rare since the tribe is now extinct."

Minuette cringed, "looks like I couldn't hunt shit with these things..." she commented.

Rarity sighed dramatically, "well, what's the point?! I mean, if the mare is gone, she's gone! Why should she bother us?"

"Maybe to take what you got..." Answered Pinkamena as she slipped on a kevlar vest, "maybe to work your nerves..." she suited up the rest of her equipment, "or maybe she'll just come back and, skull fuck you in your sleep."

Applejack scoffed, "sounds like a charmer..."

Scootaloo picked up a war club and left whle Rarity stood blinking.

XXXXX

Out atop the ship, Pinkamena surveyed the landscape with a telescope as Minuette and AJ worked to fashion a few respirators; once she was satisfied, AJ put one around Scootaloo, she breathed through it, "working?" AJ asked.

"Ya!" Scootaloo answered excitedly.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out, "if we're looking for water we should leave soon before nightfall while it's cooler."

Then Rarity appeared, "excuse me," she panted from the low oxygen in the air, "I think you should see this..."

The ponies walked over to a nearby hill allowing them to see the horizon; there it hung... a giant blue orb rising into the sky as the yellow and red ones in the opposite direction sank.

"THREE suns?!" Scootaloo gawked.

Applejack shook her head, "mah stars..."

"So much for your nightfall." quiped Minuette.

"So much for my cocktail hour..." sighed Rarity as she scratched her cheek.

Fluttershy smiled as she walked over with the three foals in tow, "we take this as a good sign! Blue sun," she pointed at the star, "blue water!"

Minuette rolled her eyes, "ever wonder why I'm an athiest?"

Pinkamena climbed down from the ship, "it's a bit of a bad sign, that's Dash's direction." she pointed out towards the blue horizon.

"I thought you found her restraints over there?" she asked as she gestured towards the yellow horizon, "towards sunset."

Pinkamena nodded, "right, which means she went towards sunrise." she then walked over to Minuette, "Minuette?" she pulled out her pistol, "fully loaded clip; safety's off, one shot if you spot her allright?" the blue pony nodded.

Rarity walked over and once again needed to lean on the scythe for rest, "what happens if Rainbow Dash spots us first?"

Pinkamena chuckled, "then there'll be no shots."

XXXXX

The terain, the sky, the rocks, everything was blue... just pure blue as the sun hung high in the sky. The chanting of Fluttershy's native prayers ringing throughout the valley they now past through, small sandy mountains around them.

Dash surveyed from above.

Pinkamena's ear twitched as a few pebbles fell from one of the mountains, "QUIET! Shh, shh!" she crouched low and readied her shotgun.

More pebbles rumbled down the hill as the ponies fell deathly silent.

Pinkamena made her way up the hill still in her combat crouch with her finger on the trigger.

Back with the others, Fluttershy stood by Twilight. They heard a few shouts form the foals and turned to see them casting rocks behind them.

"Severed stones to keep the devil at bay." Fluttershy explained with a smile.

"You're on a trip to New Everfree right?" Twilight asked with a tilt of her head.

"Once in every lifetime, should there be a great Hotch, a great pilgrimage. To get to know the gods better? Yes... but to know yourself as well."

Twilight stared, "ya..." she breathed.

Fluttershy placed a hand on her shoulder, "we are all on the same Hotch now."

Dash, from high above, stood and left her vantage point.

Pinkamena scouted atop one of the larger hills through her spyglass. Then she heard it; a hoof crunching the tiny rocks of the sand below. She whipped around and pointed her shotgun straight at Twilight's face.

Twilight jumped and yelped. Pinkamena released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, "sorry..." she turned back to the landscape.

"So did you see anything?" Twilight asked when she'd calmed down enough to speak.

"No Dash... but trees... trees mean water." She answered as she saw tall white awkwardly shaped protrusions that she took for branches.

XXXXX

Rarity sighed as she relaxed in a chair with an umbralla above it acompanied by a small table and a tea cup with some wine poured in.

"YOU COMFY UP THERE?!" Minuette yelled indignantly as she picked up the reigns to a sled bearing the dead bodies of ponies not so lucky.

"Yes, well it's amazing how you can do without the necessities of life provided you have the little luxuries." Rarity answered in a haughty tone.

Minuette scoffed, "well just keep your bloody eyes open, I don't want that psycho sneaking up on my ass." she turned and dragged the sled away.

Rarity sighed and grabbed the teacup, "yes well, you dig the graves, and I'll hold down the fort old gir-URK!" a war club was held right up against her neck scaring the life out of her.

Behind her stood Scootaloo, "She'd probably get you right here, right under the jaw," she spoke into Rarity's ear, "and you'd never even hear her coming, 'cause that's how good Dash is."

"Tell me something," Rarity turned to glare at Scootaloo, "did you run away from your parents or did they run away from you?"

Scootaloo didn't answer, she just took her war club and walked away.

XXXXX

The scouting team finally arrived at the sight of the desert trees, they looked something akin to the arid desert trees of Zebreca... but when they got closer... they learned the truth... these were not tree branches... they were bones... the remainders of some long dead giant animal...

And there beyond the dinasaur sized corpse... were thousands... millions of sekelatons in all shapes and sizes... they stretched on for miles along the flat plains.

"It's a catastrophy graveyard perhaps... like the Elephants of Equis..." Fluttershy mused.

One of the Zebra foals said somehting in his native tongue.

"He asked what could have killed so many great things." Fluttershy translated.

Twilight's brows scrunched as she looked out over the grim sight, "is this whole... planet dead?

The ponies made their way down into the plains and sifted through the giant bone copses, dry, ruined, decomposing into dust.

Pinkamena made her way through the ribcage of some whale sized creature, her shotgun still ready, a place like this would offer uncountable places for Rainbow to hide.

And rightly so... for Dash was also with them, but rather than hiding within the corpses, she lay atop one of them inside the eye socket of a giant skull.

Down by the ribcage, Twilight stopped to use her respirator... dang... out of air... she turned to her flank to begin undoing the tube and attatching it to one of the other air cannisters holstered to her hip.

Behind the giant ribs to her back, Dash slowly snuck towards the light peaking through the massive bones. Twilight rested her back against the skelaton and slouched down until she was sitting on her rump. Hearing hoofsteps, she turned to see Pinkamena aproach.

The Earth Pony took a swig of scotch before offering the bottle to Twilight, "drink?"

Twilight smiled weakly but took the bottle, "probably shouldn't do this, it dehydrates you even more." she said before taking a big gulp of the liquid.

Pinkamena brushed some stray strands of her curtain mane from her face while chuckling, "ya you're probably right..." before squating down in an eagle perch. "You know, you could have stayed back at the ship and probably should've... you know what happens if we don't find water."

Twilight shook her head, "I wanted to get away..."

"I've never seen a Captain so ready to leave her ship." Responded Pinkamena.

Twilight gave a fake smile before standing up, "I think we should keep moving."

"What'd Spike mean?" Pinkamena inquired out of the blue, "about not touching the handle?"

Twilight took in a long breath through her nose and sighed, not seeing Dash closing in to the ribs behind her and drawing a small bone shiv.

Pinkamena stood up, "it's just between you and me Twilight, I promise."

Twilight slumped back against the ribs just as Dash reached them.

Twilight sighed, "I'm not your Captain."

Dash rose her bone shiv.

Twilight looked away from the Earth Pony, "during the landing... when... th...things were at their worst... Spike was at his best..."

The shiv drew close to the ribs as Dash prepared to strike.

Twilight continued, "he's the one that stopped the... docking pilot from dumping the passenger cabbin to level the ship..."

Dash paused...

Pinkmena sucked on her cheek for a few moments, "and the docking pilot being?"

Twilight turned to stare at her intensely as if to say, 'who do you think?'

Dash brought the shiv up behind Twilight's head and descretely cut off a small few hairs of her mane.

Pinkamena chuckled, "I guess I'm a little more glad to be here than I thought."

Dash brought the small lock of mane to her nose and inhaled the scent.

Twilight gave a mirthless chuckle before following Pinkamena as she walked away.

Dash blew the lock into the wind.

XXXXX

Minuette panted, continuously using her respirator as she dug deep for a grave... but the further she dug, the more she began to hear strange noises... like a white high pitched moan... something that didn't sound like any animal she'd ever heard before... acompanied by a strange clicking...

Minuette frowned, her face drenched with sweat, she pulled out her gun and looked around the area as she panted and inhaled the pure oxygen through the device.

XXXXX

The group continued their journey through the graveyard when the foals found something in the sand.

One of them ran over to Twilight, "Captain! Captain!" Twilight turned and saw the small device... it looked like a little robot toy; its head bearing a glass dome with what looked to be solar pannels inside; holding it up, the blue light of the sun it it and soon the toy came to life.

Everypony blinked, then, with hopes high at the prospect of civilization, they marched on through the valley until they came to another open plain filled with buildings and tents and towers.

Everypony called out... but got no response.

They searched through the city, Pinkamena picked up a nearby thermus, shook it, heard no liquid inside, and tossed it with a sigh.

The place looked, for lack of a better word, abandoned.

Fluttershy found a tube nearby... it looked like part of a k-series 77f2 arrigation system, "there was water here!" she said excitedly.

Twilight made her way into one of the main buildings to find pitch black dark room after pitch black dark room. She opened a door to yet another room and looked around to be greeted by the same darkness.

Unfortunately the anti-magic zone that the planet radiated prevented the use of illumination spells. "Lights?" she said experimentally, "lights on?" Nothing... She sighed, "OK..." and walked through the area; she found windows, with rotating shutters. Accompanied by the sound of a rusty squeak, she opened them and sunlight poured through.

As it did so, hundreds of solar pannels beneath her hooves just underneath a plane of glass that made up the floor absorbed the solar light; and everything in the room sprung to life, including a scale model of the current solar system she was in.

XXXXX

Outside, Fluttershy found a solar powered water tap. The foals whispered out something gleefully.

"They are saying, 'the gods are good' yes indeed, this is the source of the water!" Fluttershy said excitedly to Pinkamena.

"Think you can get it working?"

Fluttershy nodded, "I've worked with these before in the old Everfree tribes."

XXXXX

Twilight ran her finger along the scale of the system, three planets... three suns... the one she was on; a neighboring planet, and a gas giant. It seems that the planets were in a bizarre orbit around each other's gravitational pull. The suns were too far away to majorly affect the synchronized process; Twilight had seen systems like this before.

Three large planets each orbiting each other in a strange but fascinating patern, and two or more stars, too far away to have a large enough effect the orbit, but close enough that some of their heat got through; but with multiple suns in different directions; the radiation could hit from both ends compensating for the great distance; this combined with a thick atmosphere to trap what radiation it managed to catch made this bizarre aligntment of planets and stars amazingly suitible for life.

Or, it would be in theory... yet the planet was one giant desert... with low oxygen and, as of yet, no water.

But still, this did explain something... the way the orbit was set up, everything would be eternally daytime... there simply was no such thing as night on this planet.

"No lights because no darkness..."

She didn't seem to notice the year counter ticking along the model...

XXXXX

Twilight exited the area and looked around... and then she saw it, a shimmering in her eye... metal! A ship!

Pinkamena and Fluttershy turned their heads as they heard Twilight woop in cheer, "HEELLLOOOOO EVERFREE!" there it was... a small escape ship... easily capable of taking the entire group off world.

Maybe they'd survive this after all...

******/*********/


	2. Rainbow Dash

Chapter Two, Rainbow Dash

-The darkness can be a weapon; something you fear, something you cower from. Or it can become one of your greatest defenses. It can be a monster in the closet; or it can be a sanctuary from thine enemies. Blessed are those who covet the darkness.- excerpt from the secret book of Bemnal the Fallen

Rarity fanned herself as she sat atop the ruind ship upon her comfortable chair. She relaxed for a time until she heard some sort of... banging...

Closing her fan, she put her glasses on and headed downstairs to the bunker a little ways away with her scythe. There Scootaloo and Applejack were trying to salvage parts with a cutting torch. "tell me that was you just now..."

Applejack and Scootaloo looked to one another, "what are ya'll goin' on about? She's been right here helping meh."

Rarity scowled, "Oh I'm sure, that noise? You're trying to tell me that was somepo-" CLANG "-ny... else..."

Everypony's blood chilled, a few holes in the haul allowed for light to pool through, and there they saw a figure cutting off the lightbeams as they walked. AJ turned her torch off and Scootaloo snuck over to the holes; there she peered through and saw a figure slumping along with blood covered hands.

Turning back to the mares, she mouthed out 'Rainbow Dash!'

The three hurried over near the entrance to the ship; AJ stood just behind the opening with her scythe held ready to strike. The shadow of Dash's form passed along; the ponies gulped. AJ's breathing and heart rate sky rocketed. Her fingers were wet with sweat as she clutched the weapon. Heartbeats were like drumbs, furiously roaring out as the firgure drew near.

Just as the figure began to walk in, AJ swung the weapon; Scootaloo cried "NO!" and everypony froze just as they saw Fleur De Lis covered in her own blood, scratches, and burns. AJ stopped the weapon just in time.

"O-oh my gods! I-I thought I was the only one who escaped the crash aliv-" Gun shots fired off and Fleur's blood splattered on AJ's face. Fleur fell to the ground, dead. Behind her, stood Minuette, panting as she held the smoking gun.

Scootaloo and Rarity yelped as the pony's corpse fell at their hooves.

"It was just somepony else..." breathed Scootaloo, "it was just somepony else from the crash!"

Minuette let out a shaky breath, "shit... I... I thoguth it was her... I thought it was Dash!"

Back at the ship atop the vessel in Rarity's chair under the umbrella, Rainbow Dash took a swig of wine.

XXXXX

Twilight closed a hatch within the drop ship she'd found, "no juice... it looks like it's been layed up for years." She walked over to Pinkamena, "but we might be able to adapt it to the-" "Shut up!" Pinkamena cut in.

A few silent seconds passed, "sorry, I thought I heard something..."

Twilight tilted her head, "like what?"

"... Gunshots..."

XXXXX

Minuette dragged Fleur's corpse along the sled to the grave she'd been digging; not even remotely aware of Rainbow hiding behind one of the large bone columns nearby.

Minuette huffed as she dropped the sled and made her way over to the rather impressive hole she'd dug, throwing the tarp off; she saw a tiny hole prodruding form the bottom of the wall within the grave.

The pony furrowed her brows before hopping into the grave and crouching down near the hole. She pulled back some of the soil beneath it as she tried to peer into the darkness within.

Behind the column, Dash held her bone shiv.

Minuette reached back and pulled out a flashlight, she pointed it forward, flashing the light ahead. And then she saw it... her eyes bulged out as her breath cought. It grabbed her; she was yanked halfway inside the hole.

Minuette screamed, she grabbed her gun and fired it blindly as the thing ripped her flesh apart with its claws and teeth.

XXXXX

AJ and Rarity were exiting the bunker cabbin when gunshots sounded throughout the air. Applejack's eyes widened, "Minuette!" she charged in the direction of the graves.

XXXXX

Minuette wanted to cry from the pain she was in, but her eyes along with most of her face had been gouged out by razor claws, she continued to fire her gun, praying to the gods for just one successful hit.

More and more the creature tore at her flesh, she screemed, she yelled, she kicked and fired.

XXXXX

Applejack ran and ran as fast as her legs would carry her; she sprinted through the desert until she found the tarp atop the graves; she yanked it off and saw the hole at the bottom of the grave drenched in blood.

"MINUETTE!" she cried.

Then she looked up, and there stood Rainbow Dash, staring back at her with tinted goggles covering her eyes.

AJ's blood froze as the mare stood up with the bone shiv in her hand. Dash turned away and left. Soon she was sprinting through the desert when suddenly Pinkamena tripped her from behind a bone column with her batton.

Dash slammed into the sand; as she made to get up, Pinkamena kicked her in the side turning her over to her back. Dash reached up and grasped hold of Pinkamena's leg and waist to yank her down; the pink mare fought to keep her balance and got hold of Dash's goggles, ripping them off; Dash cringed as the overly bright lights filled her vision.

Pinkamena slashed her across the face with the batton disorienting her.

"Piece of SHIT!" Pinkamena struck her again over the head.

Dash's vision was then filled with Applejack who said, "what'd yew do tah Minuette..." before backhanding her.

"WHAT DID YEW DO TAH HER?!" She screemed as Twilight tried to hold her back.

"Just kill her! Just someponny gods damn kill her before she..." Applejack kicked Dash in the head with such force she knocked her out cold.

XXXXX

Twilight entered into the interior of the crashed ship where Dash sat on a chair, her arms widespread with her hands chained against the steel columns.

"So where's the body?" Twilight asked.

Dash didn't answer.

"... Well do you wanna tell me about the sounds?"

Still nothing.

"Look, you told Pinkamena you heard something..."

More silence.

Twilight sighed, "that's fine... you don't wanna talk to me, that's your choice, but JUST so you know... there's a debate right now as to whether or not we should just leave you here to die." Twilight turned to leave.

"You mean the whispers..." Dash said quietly.

Twilight turned around and slowly made her way back, "what whispers?"

"The ones telling you to go for the Sweet Spot just to the left of the spine, fourth lumbar down; the abdominal laorta..." Dash answered.

Twilight sighed as she put her hands on her hips.

"It's a metalic taste, blood... copperish, if you cut it with peppermint snaps it-" "do you wanna shock me with the truth now?" Twilight cut in.

Dash slowly turned to look at her, "all you ponies are so scared of me... most days I'd take that as a compliment... but aint me you gotta worry about now..."

Most of the mare's face was still covered in shadow.

Twilight stared, "show me your eyes Rainbow..."

Dash smirked, "you'd have to come a lot closer for that."

Despite the shaky breath that made her lip quiver, Twilight slowly stepped near.

"Closer..." Dash said.

Twilight rubbed the sweat on her palm off against her pants and drew even more near.

The Unicorn yelped when Dash hopped up causing her shackles to rattle against the metal as her face stood inches away from Twilight's her magenta eyes shimmering like a flourescent cave mushroom.

Twilight backed up as her breath cought.

Dash turned to the side, over in the corner stood Scootaloo, "where the hell can I get eyes like that?!" she asked excitedly.

"You gotta kill a few ponies." Said Dash.

"Kay I can do it!" replied Scootaloo as she stepped near.

"Then you gotta get sent to a slam where they tell ya you'll never see daylight again... you dig up a doctor, you pay 'em twenty menthol cools... to do a surgical shine job on your eyeballs." Dash explained.

Scootaloo smiled, "so you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark..."

"Exactly!" Dash replied with a smile of her own.

"Leave!" Twilight snapped at Scootaloo who frowned before exiting the ship.

"Cute filly." Dash said to Twilight before sitting back down, "did I kill a few ponies? Sure... did I kill Minuette?... no... you got the wrong killer."

"She's not in the hole," Twilight began with a glare, "we looked."

"Look deeper."

XXXXX

The ponies made their way to the grave site. "Let me tell you what I think happened," said Pinkamena, "I think she went off on the chick and burried her somewhere in the hills and now she's got you believing there's something else out there."

Twilight shook her head, "well, let's just be sure."

Pinkamena sighed, "look, murders aside, Dash belongs in the asshole hall of fame, she loves to jawjack and she loves to make you feel afraid 'cause that's all she has. And you're playing right into-" "You know what?! I don't even know why I'm trying to explain this to you." Twilight cut in, "I mean, you're a cop, for gods' sake, we couldn't find her body."

Scootaloo chewed on her lip, "hey, I'll go!"

Twilight turned around walking backwards, "look, nopony is going in there but me."

Pinkamena put her hands on her hips, "look, being ballsy with your life doesn't change what came before, it's just stupid."

Twilight's eye twitched, she whirled around, "what? Do you think I'm trying to prove something?!"

Pinkamena stared into her eyes, "well are you?"

XXXXX

At the grave, Twilight began to dig through the hole as Fluttershy held onto a rope secured to Twilight's waist. She slowly crawled through the cave with her flashlight; not ten feet in she found Minuette's broken light.

Crawling along further, she found herself inside of a large underground cave, a network of tunnels filled with a black hardened goup that looked oddly familiar. There were holes punching through from the ceiling allowing beams of light to shine through; most likely from the stone chiminies of the rock spires above.

Twilight continued to gaze around as she stood up and walked through the area, her flashlight shining through the darkness, she made her way to one of the chiminies and peered skyward. "They're hollow..." she whispered to herself as she inspected the spires.

Behind her on a far wall, a black creature steathiilly crawled along the hard slime covered surface. It's sudden movement caused a few specs of dust to fall upon the ground.

The sound made Twilight jump, she spun around and held her flashlight to the wall. Nothing there...

Fast crawling from behind her... she whipped around yet againg to find more bare walls.

Twilight swallowed hard. Against her better judgement, she made her way towards the walls. And then she thought she saw something... she made her way over towards the... well... whatever it was... and saw... a hoof? Minuette?! She drew closer. But then stopped as she saw the hoof wasn't attatched to anything but blood covered and severed bone.

Twilight's heart stopped... then something moving almost faster than her eyes could percieve, sprinted past her vision; she yelped, dropping the flashlight and skittered backwards.

Twilight's body pressed against a stone column as squeaks, clicks, and almost sing-song moans rang out in the cave.

Looking around, she could see them now, faint backdrops against the walls... black chitenous creatures, hundreds of them all writhing like a can of worms. Of course... she recognized them... Changelings... but these weren't like the fossiles she'd studied back on Equis, ones that fed on love with large blue eyes and faerie wings.

No... these things were large, almost taller than Twilight, lacking any eyes whatsoever, their maws jutted out to an almost unnatural length with girth to match; like a raptor's mouth. Rather than two large fangs for administering sedatives, every single one of their teeth were large and seraded showing that by whatever evolutionary terms existed on this planet, these Changelings developed a hunger for physical flesh.

Their wings were leathery and large like a Dragon's and from their heads prodruded two large poles like that of a hammer head shark; fist sized bulbous glands at the end of each, glistening. Their tails, long and split into four tendrils flicking about granting them incredible dexterity and balance.

Twilight turned towards the endtrance only to see another Changeling scuttle its way inside a hole just to the side of the tunnel entrance... no way she was taking that risk...

Their disturbing screeches filled the air as Twilight turned and made her way to one of the chiminy spires; she began to climb it's length with fervency; the light at the top of the spire shining like salvation as she climbed.

But then the rope attatched to her cought; she grabbed and tried to yank it higher; down below, that clicking... the echoing growls sounding more like a ghostly wail...

The rope suddenly yanked forcing Twilight downwards, she screemed as her body slid down through the spire. Dust falling over her face, her hoof cought on the stone at the bottom of the chiminy, she grabbed her safety line and yanked, pulled, tugged, as the calls of the Changelings sang out like a disturbing symphony of hunger; each call awaking the next creature and so on.

All of them singing out in their Hive Mind a single word; uncomprehencible to Equine ears; but one didn't need to be a genius to work it out: Food.

Twilight's eyes shifted around as her breathing became sporadic, she called out to the top of the spire, "I'M IN HERE! I'M IN HERE!"

XXXXX

Outside, the ponies nervously sat. Fluttershy furrowed her brows as she drew near to the hole, "... thought I heard something..."

Scootaloo's eyes narrowed as the slightest, faintest sounds of a mare's voice called out around the desert.. she turned and looked around at the hundreds of rocky spires...

XXXXX

Twilight was crying hysterically; tears and snot pouring down her face as the clicking below turned to gutteral snarls and hisses; more pressure yanking on her safety line, "PLEAASE! OH GODS HELP ME!" she sobbed and wailed as her hands and hooves pressed against the edges of the spire with all her strength, refusing to let go lest she fall into the starving swarm.

XXXXX

Scootaloo stood up and looked around, "I know I... hmm..." her ears twitched as that faint sound called out yet again.

XXXXX

Twilight cried and pleaded; the Changelings becoming ravenous now as they tugged and yanked the safety line in all directions. Her mind spazmed in panick.

'I don't wanna die... I don't wanna die here... I don't wanna die like this...'

Twilight's adrenalin pumping through her veins, her mind flaring with a thousand thoughts; focusing on one; survive... fight... live...

"I'm not gonna die here... I'M NOT GONNA DIE HERE!" she grabbed the rope and yanked with a beserker battle cry as she forced her way up the spire with all the strength of a desperate mare on the verge of death. Shrieking out a crazed mix of terror and rage. Bit by bit, she climbed higher and higher.

And just then, the wall of the spire busted inward, Twilight coughed and spat out the dust; arms reached in through the hole and Twilight clasped onto them with a vicegrip.

Together, Pinkamena and Fluttershy pulled her out of the spire.

"Gimme your hand! Gimme your gods damned hand!" they pulled her out of the chiminy and into the light of day within the sandy desert.

"I heard you Twilight! I heard you first!" Scootaloo exclaimed as the two mares dragged Twilight away from the spire. All of them spoke at once.

"What's down there?" "What is it?" "are you alright?" "did you see Minuette?" "Twilight, are you OK?"

Twilight fell to her hands and kneese when the mares released her, "FUUUUCK!" she panted, "that was so FUCKING stupid!..." she panted, "I don't know... what the FUCK is down there... but it got Minuette, and it almost got MEEEE!" she yelped as her safety line went taught and began dragging her back to the spire, she flailed her arms and legs and screemed.

She was neary dragged down the hole of the spire when she jutted her heands and hooves out catching on the edges of the hole. The ponies rushed over; Pinkamena grabbed her and yanked against the tugging force as she yelled, "GET IT OFF ME!"

Fluttershy pulled out a knife and sawed against the rope.

"GET IT OFF ME!" Twilight cried hysterically as the strength of the Changelings won out against Pinkamena and she was nearly dragged down the hole again, "GET IT OFFF MEEEEE!"

Finally the line was cut and rocketed down the spire like a bullet.

The ponies looked down the hole as Twilight fell to the ground, sobbing, to see a few of the Changelings dogpile onto the severed rope; but upon realizing there was to meat, they screeched and snarled before rushing off to the sides out of sight and back into the dark depths of the cave.

XXXXX

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "finally found something worse than me huh?"

Pinkamena stood in front of her, "so here's the deal... you work without chains, without bit, and without shivs... you do what I say, when I say it-" "for what?" Dash cut in, "so I can go back to some asshole in a cell? Fuck you..."

Pinkamena sighed while rubbing her forhead; "look, the truth is... is I'm tired of chasing you."

Dash looked up at her, "are you saying you'd cut me loose?"

Pinkamena shrugged, "I figure you could've died in the crash."

Dash stared at the mare for a good long time, "... my recomendation, do me. Don't risk the chance I get shiv-happy on your wannabe ass."

Pinkamena frowned, "OK." she said almost as if calling a bluff.

"GHOST ME MUTHER FUCKER! That's what I would do to you." Dash responded instantly.

Pinkamena pulled out her shotgun and fired.

...

...

...

Dash pulled her arms down, the now severed chains fell to the floor.

"I want you to remember this moment..." said Pinkamena, "how it could have gone and didn't." she held Dash's goggles up to her.

Dash stood up to grab them, but then quickly snatched Pinkamena's shotgun and pointed it at her.

Pinkamena held her hands up, "Dash..." "FUCK YOU!"

...

...

...

Dash held the gun right to Pinkamena's throat; the gun shaking as anger waged war with survival instinct. Kill Pinkamena now and be done with her? But she'd need her good word to travel amongst the others... security codes she might need, knowledge she could gather, all of it would be unatainable if she pulled the trigger... but at the same time... just a single act and Pinkamena would be gone from her life for good.

Decisions, decisions...

"Do we have a deal?" Asked Pinkamena.

Rainbow Dash sighed, "... I want you to remember this moment..." before tossing the shotgun on the ground and snatching up her goggles.

XXXXX

Everypony grabbed as many supplies as they could gather from what remained of the ship; then they collected a fuel cell and moved on. "Just one?" Fluttershy asked.

"For now." Twilight answered.

The group made their way through the desert; everypony carrying something and Dash dragging the heavy fuel cell.

Applejack walked next to Pinkamena, "so... Ah guess she's counting her fingers thinkin' she's one o' us now?"

Pinkamena chuckled as they traversed the sand, "I didn't say that, but at least this way I don't have to worry about you all uh... falling asleep and not waking up heh heh..."

"So can I talk to her now?" Scootaloo asked, who was now wearing a pair of swimming goggles on her face.

"NO." both mares answered sternly.

As Rarity walked, one of her bottles of alchohol fell out of her bag and slid along the sand, "oh blast it!" she turned and reached down to grab it when Rainbow Dash picked it up. Rarity found herself face to face with the killer who towered over her.

Rarity cleared her throat to calm her nerves, "Rarity, antiquities dealer, entrepeneur." she held out her hand.

Rainbow Dash stared at it for a while before grabbing it, "Rainbow Dash, escaped convict, murderer."

Rarity gulped.

Rainbow uncorked the bottle.

"Th-that's a particularly good charaz, it-it-it's a lovely drop, very expensive."

Dash downed the entire bottle in one go.

"By all means... help yourself..."

XXXXX

At last the ponies arrived back at the escape ship.

"Normally I can appreciate antiques, but this... this is something else..." Rarity quiped as she pointed her thumb at the ship.

Pinkamena chewed on her saliva thoughtfully, "it'll work."

Twilight brought out her pack, "there's nothing we can't repair so long as the electrical adapts."

Applejack sighed, "well... it aint no star jumper..."

"Doesn't need to be." Chimmed Dash, "take a two seater like this back to the soul track shipping lanes, stick out a thumb... bound to get picked up... aint that right Captain?" she looked to Twilight.

Twilight turned to Pinkamena who was also staring at her. Then she looked away, as of late, both mares were intimidating enough on their own, but both of them she just couldn't handle; "can I have a little help here?" she asked AJ and Rarity.

Rainbow Dash walked towards the group when Pinkamena halted her tracks, "woah, woah, woah... do me a favor... check these containers out and uh... see what we can patch these wings up with..."

XXXXX

Inside the now illuminated research facility, Scootaloo fished around the random containers; squeaky toys, science equipment, pictures of families, clothes... rainbow hairdye-wait WHAT?! Scootaloo stared at the bottle...

XXXXX

Outside, Fluttershy stared intently at the water tap, it was now or never... she made the last few adjustments to the atom converter and prayed...

A tiny drop fell, then another, then another, and soon a stream poured out.

The Zebra foals cheered as they cupped the water in their hands and drank.

"Allright, allright, my turn." Rarity fussed as she brought cups under the tap.

Back inside the escape ship, Twilight rewired the circuitry; looked to be adapting well she noticed with relief.

Twilight smiled hapilly, "we are... getting there!" Applejack returned the smile as she helped rewire the ship.

Twilight walked up to the motherboard, "so! We've got enough power for systems check but we'll still need more cells." she flipped a few switches.

Pinkamena walked up and leaned against the side of the ship, "how many are we talking about?"

"Uuumm... hmm..." Twilight put her hands on the consol as she rand some calculations through her head, "let's see, we got a 90 gig draw, the other... ship takes 20 gig cells so that'd be five..." she turned to Pinkamena, "five total, to take off."

Pinkamena sucked on the inside of her cheek, "35 Kilos each..."

AJ frowned, "wow, that's a pretty heavy load... well, ya'll know that old Sand Cap out there? Ah just might be able to get it workin' again."

Pinkamena nodded, "ya, do it if you can, but if you need help..." she looked around, "... where'd Dash go?"

XXXXX

Rainbow explored the research sight, she looked around at the abandoned buildings... the trinkets and sundries strewn about...

Above her ontop of one of the buildings, Scootaloo looked down, her mane now died the same rainbow as Dash's. She turned to one of the Zebra foals following her, "let's go."

Dash knelt down and pulled out an object form the sand, shaking it off; she turned and picked up a pair of glasses...

Then she made her way to the storage shed and grabbed hold of the door handles; giving them a few tugs revealed that it must have been locked form this inside. Dash looked through the window and saw chains looped through the handles locked with a padlock. Weird... who locks a storage shed from the inside?

The Zebra colt snuck around to the side of the shed and found a tiny plate of the building's metal worn from age, he crawled in underneath and stood up. The place was dark and empty... and it smelled bad...

Outside, Dash moved a nearby tarp covering a part of the large building to show the words CORING ROOM

Then she heard a whistle and turned to see Pinkamena, "you're missing the party," she then slapped her leg as if calling a dog, "come on girl."

Dash's eye twitched underneath her goggles, she then ripped the tarp down exposing Scootaloo who gasped.

Dash turned to her, "you're missing the party come on!" before turning to leave.

Scootaloo dropped her head with a groan.

XXXXX

Inside the main research facility, Fluttershy said a paryer of thanks before handing out glasses of water.

Scootlaoo then walked in and lifted up her goggles before grabbing a glass.

Rarity did a double take as she took in the sight of Scootaloo's goggles and rainbow mane. The rest of the ponies gave each other looks.

"What?!" Scootaloo demanded.

Rarity rolled her eyes, "it's the winner of a look alike contest."

XXXXX

The Zebra colt searched around the inside of the room as the circuits began to spring to life. With the wire adaption in the ship and and research lab, the solar pannels in the Coring Room restored themselves to their natural purpose and soon circuits and lights and screens flashed on around the colt.

XXXXX

Rarity rubbed her chin, "what were these ponies, miners?"

AJ shook her head, "nah, looks like geologists" she held up one of the rocks in a pair of pincers, "ya know... advance team? Checks the planet from rock tah rock 'afore the colonies head in?"

Twilight shook her head as she walked over, "then why'd they leave so much stuff here?" she leaned her hands on the tabled, "why'd they leave their ship?"

Everypony stayed silent...

Fluttershy searched around for one of the three colts she was escorting having just realized his absence.

XXXXX

Up above the colt, a few Changeling hatchlings scuttled around as the darkness in the building gave way to a dim light from the electronics.

XXXXX

"It's not a ship," Pinkamena countered, "it's a Skiff, and it's disposable really."

Rarity nodded, "it's more like an emergency life-raft."

AJ also nodded in agreement, "ya... they prabably had a drop ship take 'em off planet."

Dash chuckled, "these ponies didn't leave, come on... whoever got Minuette got them... they're all dead."

Rarity gulped. AJ's head dropped.

Dash turned to the group, "you don't really think they left with their clothes on the hooks... photos on the shelves..."

AJ glared at her, "maybe they had weight limits! Ya'll don't know!"

Rainbow chuckled as she shook her head, "I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a fucking emergency."

Scootaloo nodded, "she's fucking right."

Pinkamena scowled at her, "watch your mouth."

Twilight slumped her back against the wall, "she's just saying what we're all thinking." She turned to face Dash, "so what happened? Where are they?"

Rainbow didn't get a chance to answer as Fluttershy entered, "has anypony seen the little one?" she called out his name. Dash looked around, "has anypony checked the Coring Room?"

XXXXX

The Colt watched with a fascinated gaze as the the ceiling opened up to let the full sunlight it. As soon as the light pierced through, the Changeling hatchlings screeched and flew about the place in a berserk rage.

The colt screemed.

XXXXX

Everypony in the research facility shot up at the sound and looked to oneanother. Universally, they all got up and charged for the Coring Room.

XXXXX

The colt yelped and batted his arms at the tiny creatures as they picked at his flesh; soon he found a nearby door and ran through into the locker room.

He quietly panted and slowly relaxed... then he heard growling from behind.

XXXXX

Pinkamena fired to shots form her shotgun at the door before kicking it open. The ponies entered and searched around.

The place looked as deserted as all the others; a large dome of an area with computers and locker rooms; and a well leading down underground to collect samples.

Fluttershy called out for the colt with no response.

Quiet hisses sounded throughout the room. Fluttershy jumped as loose bits of tarp from above the cellar fell over her.

Everypony felt on edge...

Then Fluttershy saw one of the locker room doors shaking ever so slightly; she gradually made her way to the doors and slowly placed her hands on the handles. When she lightly pulled against it, the doors flung open knocking her down as hundreds of Changeling hatchlings raced out into the building.

The ponies screamed and rushed out the doors; Pinkamena whipping her gun around as they went.

After a few seconds and several cries from the Changelings, she entered back in to see the last of them dart down the cellar.

Fluttershy crawled on the floor as the ponies gently called out for the colt. Fluttershy yelped when a dead Zebra's form fell to the ground, skelaton picked clean to the bear bone.

XXXXX

Outside, Fluttershy and the other two Zebra colts gave a small funeral for the dead foal.

Back inside the Coring room, the rest of the ponies gathered around the well. Pinkamena lit up a flare and dropped it down the shaft. Down and down and down it went, far beyond what ponies had built into the soil and finally it landed in a pile of bones that completely covered the cave floor.

"Other buildings weren't secure." Dash said as she crouched in an eagle perch above the well, "so they ran here... heaviest doors. Thought they'd be safe inside... but they forgot to lock the cellar."

The ponies let out tired breaths and meandered about the place. Dash sat on a bucket nearby and peered around when AJ drew near. The Earth Pony sighed before tossing Dash her respirator, "here."

Dash inspected it, "When it's broken?" and tossed in at AJ's hooves.

AJ scowled, "no there's still a few hits; actually ya asshole, Ah'm tryin' tah say Ah'm sorry."

Pinkamena walked by with a raised eyebrow, "Ok... let's board this place up and get the hell outta here..." and walked away.

AJ glared at Rainbow for a few moments with her arms crossed before kicking the respirator back over to Dash and leaving.

Pinkamena made her way over to Twilight, "whatever the fuck those things were, they seem to stick to darkness; so if we stick to daylight we should be alright-"

Twilight ignored her as she picked up a tag next to one of the mineral containers: CORE SAMPLE NO: 9275/88/743.

"-OK? Let's go." Pinkamena turned to leave.

"Twenty two years ago..." Twilight said absently causing Pinkamena to turne around, "huh?"

Twilight shook her head, "these coring samples are dated... last one's twenty two years ago... this month..."

Pinkamena rubbed her face in agitation, "'K is there something special about that Twilight?"

Twilight leaned against the table, "I don't know... it could be..." she remembered the model and rushed out of the Coring Room to the research facility.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash picked up the respirator from the ground and slung it over her shoulder.

XXXXX

Back inside the research lab, Twilight moved the planets around on the model, forcing its cycle as the counter ticked the years away.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. 19, 20, 21, 22...

Then she reached it... a brief moment along the planetary alignment, the other two planets blocked off the three suns from sining down upon the world they stood on.

"Eclips..." Twilight breathed. She moved the moddle on forward for what must be several days but still the suns did not shine upon the planet.

Dash smiled, "you're not afraid of the dark are you?"

XXXXX

"Can you get the cells?" Twilight asked as she made her way to the Skiff, "I still have to patch the hull and check up on the-" "wait on the power cells." Pinkamena cut in.

Twilight frowned, "why? Wait for what? For when it's so dark we can't find our way back?"

"None of that's gonna happen yet so let's not get over excited." Pinkamena responded.

Twilight turned on her hooves, "just get the fucking cells Pinkamena! What-what is the discussion?"

Pinkamena smirked, "maybe I should tell you how Rainbow escaped."

XXXXX

Inside the Skiff, "She can pilot?!" Twilight balked.

Pinkamena nodded, "best damn flier I've ever seen, on and off a ship; she jacked a prison transport and had a good run before I tracked her ass down."

Twilight silently pondered for a moment, "OK, OK, maybe that's a good thing? I mean, she can help us... navigate or something."

"She also figured out how to kill the pilot." Pinkamena quiped.

Twilight sat down with a puff of air, "look you said we could trust her, you said you had a deal Pinkamena."

Pinkamena shook her head, "and you may have noticed, but change don't work on this chick. Now, the only way you ponies are truly safe, is if she believes she's going free... let's just say she stops bel-" "You mean if she realizes we're gonna royaly fuck her over-" "now I want you to just listen to me for a second... if we bring the cells up at the last possible minute... when the wings are ready and we know we're ready to l-" "You know, she hasn't harmed anypony, as far as I can tell, she hasn't even lied to us. Let's just stick to the deal Pinkamena." Twilight leaned back against the wall.

"NOW SHE'S A KILLER!" Pinkamena snapped, "and the law says she has to do her bid, there is nothing I can do about that, you hear me?"

Twilight stared, "you're dancing on razor blades here."

Pinkamena sucked her bottom lip in and bit it as she looked away, aggravated, then she looked back, "I'm not gonna give her a chance to grab another ship... or slice another pilot's throat." she stood up, "not on my watch." and left the ship.

As she got up and began to leave, Pinkamena pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned lightly as a wave of nausia overtook her. She slumped her way outside and leaned against the Skiff before vomiting.

Nearby, Dash used a metal shiv she'd fashioned to slice off the excess tuffets of her mane that had grown during her imprisonment. "Bad sign," she commented, "shaking in this heat."

Pinkamena unsteadilly turned to her still using one hand propped against the Skiff for support, "I thought... I said no shivs... shiv..." she felt another wave of vomit snaking its way up her stomach as Withdrawl symptoms began to wrack her system.

Dash 'tch'd, "this? This is just a personal grooming accessory."

XXXXX

Back inside the Skiff; Twilight closed the docking hatch before running the sytsems through a diagnositics check. She sat in the pilot seat as the computer read: TESTING HAUL INTEGRITY

"Thiiinkiiiiiiing." she slid the chair back and turned to get up when she nearly jumped out of her skin as Dash stood in front of her.

"Looks like we're a few shy..." Dash commented as Twilight's body froze in anxiety and fear, "fuel cells I mean..."

Twilight forcibly steadied her breath, "they're coming."

Dash took a few steps forward as she nonchaulantly spoke, "it's strange not doing a runnup on the main drive yet..." she took her respirator off and put it on one of the nearby bins. "unless..." she continued, "unless she told you... the particulars of my escape."

Twilight swallowed and dared to take a few steps forward with sweat building up against her skin, "I got the quick and ugly version..."

"Now you're worried about a repeat of history..."

Twilight's hand moved over to a screen and pressed a few buttons to try and hurry the diagnostics along. "it has entered our minds..." she responded quietly before returning to her practice of focibly slowing her breathing.

Dash now stepped even closer, "I asked what you thought..."

Twilight swallowed again and took a few calming breaths, "you scare me Rainbow, that's what you wanna hear isn't it? Now can I just get back to work?" she then turned around and made to move back to the pilot's seat when Dash spoke again, "I've been meaning to catch up with you alone... unrestrained..."

Twilight could see the screen bearing the measureements as the diagnostics ran its scan.

Rainbow Dash leaned against the wall just to the right of Twilight's back, "ya think... ya think Pinkamena's a do-right-mare? You think I can trust her to cut me loose?" she asked.

And there it was, once again the paralyzing fear flowing through Twilight's veins. Like a wolf drinking from a river only to realize that there's a venomous snake hiding under the water.

Twilight took a few moments to unglue her tongue from the roof of her mouth and spoke, "why... wh-what'd you hear?"

Dash sighed, "whelp... guess if it was standard police proceedure... she'd just... ex me out huh? Kill me... then again... I AM worth twice as much alive."

All of Twilight's fear paused for a moment in confusion. 'wait... WHAT?!'

Dash brought her face inches away form the side of Twilight's cheek, "oh, but you didn't know that did ya? You're Pinkamena's inner cop."

The screens were at around 50%

"She's got that nickel slick badge..." Dash moved her head around to the other side of Twilight's head, hot breath tickling the Unicorn's ear and making it twitch, "and that blue uniform..."

The snake was slithering around the wolf's legs as it tried to stay as still as it could; the serpant climbing up and coiling around the Lupine.

"But she's just a merc." Dash said in an almost angry voice. Her head moved back to the right side of Twilight's head, "and I'm just a payday."

The snake slowly coiled around the wolf's neck, its tongue flicking out as it hissed.

"That's why she won't kill me see... creed is greed-" "DON'T... waste... my time..." Twilight cut in, "we're not gonna turn on each other no matter how hard you try." and sat back down in the Pilot's seat.

And just like that, the wolf shrugged the snake off like a dog drying its coat and left.

Twilight flipped a few more switches when Dash leaned on the chair, "I don't truly know what's gonna happen when the lights go out Twilight. But I do know... once the dying starts... this psycho-fuck family of ours is gonna tear itself apart~" she sang out before leaving towards the exit.

Twilight's head dropped against the seat with a long sigh of relief.

"Ever wonder why Pinkamena shakes like that?" Dash asked from the docking hatch, "ask Her... and ask why your Dragon friend had to scream so painfully before he died.

The screen beeped, HULL INTEGRITY 100%

The docking hatch opened, Dash grabbed her respirator, and left.

XXXXX

Pinkamena sat inside one of the research buildings, she pulled out what looked like a shotgun slug and opened it to reveal two shots of morphine. She precariously took the small vial out, and loaded it into a syringe gun before pushing the nob to flick out the needle.

Then, with the practiced ease that came from hundreds of past experiences, Pinkamena broought the needle towards the inner corner of her right eye and dug the needle into ther brain nerves before administering the drug.

She took the needle out as sher body relaxed in appreciation, her jitters settled down, the nausia disappeared, and the searing pain in her back died down as she moved her jaw around.

"So who are you really?" Twilight asked as she walked in with arms crossed. "You're not a cop are you?" it wasn't a question, it was an accusation.

Pinkamena turned to her with a drunk expression, "I nev shed I wash Tiligh" she slurred.

Twilight sighed, "no, you didn't..." it was true, Twilight just saw the badge and assumed, but Pinkamena had never outright claimed to be an officer of the law. She walked over to the 'ammo' case and pulled out one of the slugs. Opening it, she scowled in disgust, "and you never said you were a hype either." she tossed the slug on the ground.

Pinkamena stretched and cracked her neck, "you have a 'ittle caffffine in the mornin', I have a little morphine... so what?" she said, her speech only now beginning to recover.

Twilight grabbed another cannister and fingered it, "ya you got two mornings every day, wow; you're born lucky." she said sarcastically.

"Is that a problem Twi-" Pinkamena began to say in her lucid state when Twilight whipped around and shouted, "NO, IT BECOMES A PROBLEM, when you let Spike die like that!"

Pinkamena looked away.

Twilight seethed, "you have enough drugs hear to knock out a fucking elephant."

"Spike was already dead," Pinkamena turned back to Twilight, "his brain just hadn't caught on to the fact."

Twilight balked, "Is there anything ELSE I should know about you?!"

Pinkamena turned to the side and spat.

Twilight started to walk away, but turned to glare at the mercenary, "you know I... I am letting you roll the dice on our lives it is not unreasonabl-" Pinkamena snatched Twilight's hand, stood up, and pressed it aginst her lower back.

"You feel that?" she asked.

Twilight's hand sensed a large long bump a little to the left of the Pinkamena's spine pushing agasinst the skin.

"That was my first run-in with Dash. She went for the Sweet Spot and missed. She even left a piece of the shiv in there Twilight... I can feel it, pressing against the cord... so maybe the care feeding my nerve endings is my business..."

A few silent grim moments passed...

"... it's just that you could have done something... and you didn't..." She turned to leave.

"Ya well, look to thine own ass first right Twilight?"

Twilight glared at the wall, "fuck you." and left.

As she exited the building, two of the Zebra foals ran in, "Captain, Captain!"

Twilight held her hand up in agitated exhaustion, "I'm not your fucking Captain." when she left, her mouth dropped at the sight before her... the gass giant was clearly visible in the sky... and it was ever so slowly creeping into position to block out the sun.

The rest of the ponies gathered and stared with grim looks of slight horror as the seconds ticked away.

"What do mine eyes see..." Rarity breathed.

Applejack locked her gaze in a stalwart position, "if we need anythin' from the crash site, Ah suggest we get it now; that Sand Cap is solar powered."

Indeed... it seemed that time was turning against them...

They grabbed a few minor supplies and hopped up onto the Sand Cap.

Scootaloo looked around, "where's Rainbow Dash?"

"Leave her!" Said Rarity, "she wouldn't wait for us."

And then Dash landed from the sky onto the Sand Cap.

Rarity paused, "... thought we'd lost you."

AJ started up the Sand Cap and called out, "PINKAMENA! We're leaving!"

Pinkamena gathered up her equipment, including her morphine. She left the building to see the Sand Cap passing by and hopped up onto it.

As they rode across the desert, Scootaloo smiled at Dash as she put her swimming goggles on. Dash pointed forwards with a twitch of her finger and the filly looked to see some over hanging bones.

"WOAH!" Everypony ducked as the Sand Cap shattered the skelatons. At last they arrived near the crash site and everypony hopped out of the vehical; hurrying into the crashed ship.

But Rarity hurried off towards the bunker cabbin, "where are ya'll goin'?" AJ cried out.

"I just..." she panted, "got to get a few things... I'll only be a few minutes."

Inside the ship; the ponies hurried to grab the fuel cells as Scootaloo stood outside staring at the planet as it rose to eclips one of the two yellow suns...

AJ backed the Sand Cap up against the ship, but it's solar pannel dome began to spitz and flicker... not good... Dash, Pinkamena, and Fluttershy hoisted the cells and brought them down to the Sand Cap as Scootaloo and AJ desperately tried to clean the class dome above the whirling solar pannels.

Faster and faster they moved... the tension rose as the rings of the gass giant clouded the suns... and then the solar pannels stopped... there was still some faint light as the sun's radiation shone through the rings of the planet... but the temprature suddenly dropped... things got darker...

And an unearthly screech filled the sky from the direction of the grave and chiminy spires.

Each of the ponies looked around to each other in confusion, fear, anxiety, or in Dash's case, a strange calm.

More sounds, moans, sing-song wailing, and clicks.

They ponies looked on to see black dots soar out of the spires and into the sky until soon there were contless black tendrils licking the heavens as the shrieking creatures soared and turned and flew forming a black cloud that loomed over the equines.

Pinkamena found her voice, "how many are there?" she asked quietly.

Dash gazed upon the thick ropes of black spewing from the spires; like black sand falling through an hourglass. Each individual one, a monstrous carnivorous animal searching for prey to feast on. Beasts of the darkness; molded for hunting, for killing, with no weapons and no tools; just starving children of the Pitch Black darkness.

"Beauuutiiifulllll..." Dash whispered out to the fading light.

Fluttershy's jaw quivered, "by the gods..."

The Zebra colts shook and cowered behind the Druid.

Everypony was so enraptured by the death cloud that they almost didn't notice them begining to rush towards their direction.

"PONIES!" Rarity shouted, "JUST A SUGGESTION! PERHAPS YOU SHOULD FLEEEE!"

The ponies turned high tail and sprinted. Except for AJ, Pinkamena, and Dash. One paralyzed with fear, one a deer in the headlights, and one staring in fascination.

"Come on!" Fluttershy said as she smacked Pinkamena's back which seemingly woke her form her stupor.

Only AJ and Dash were left. Dash's body shaking, she finally shook her head and realized she was being left behind "SHIIIIT!" she screamed and forced her legs to move. And then Dash too, moved.

The five mares and two colts raced along the desert towards the bunker cabbin where Rarity stood as the tendrils of black soared down towards them like a slithering snake charging at a fleeing rabbit.

"COME OOOON!" Rarity encouraged as she beckoned with her hand.

First the colts arrived as they were the first to start running, then Twilight, then Fluttershy, then Pinkamena.

Lastly, AJ and Rainbow charged as the Changelings neared them; racing through the skies like Death upon the wind.

"GET DOWN!" Twilight roared.

AJ and Dash each dived into a low dune as the beasts raced over and past them.

Dash kept her body limp and relaxed against the ground as she lowered her breathing and minimized her movement.

AJ whipped her head around searching for another possible creature neaby. She didn't see any...

"No... no..." Twilight whispered, "don't get up..."

Yet that's exactly what she did. She hopped up and charged for the cabbin.

"NO! JUST STAY THERE!" Scootaloo cried.

Rarity held her back.

Dash's ear twitched, she switched from laying on her side to laying on her back in split second just as hundreds of Changelings wooshed past her, inches away from touching her body.

Applejack only made it a few yards when the Changelings caught her, first she was knocked to the ground, then she tried to get up and her waist jerked forward as the monsters piered into her lower back; some tugged on her torso; tearing off flesh and ripping bits of bone apart while others yanked on her legs; and still some continued to bombard her lower back at ferocious speeds.

Twilight was horrified to see that these weren't even the large adults that she'd seen in the caves, these were just the tiny hatchlings.

AJ screemed as she was literally torn in half, split at the waist and continued to screem even as her torso was whisked away into the sky.

The their prize, the hatchlings raced off to the hills fighting over a few bites and vanished from view.

Rainbow Dash slowly stood up, looked around, dusted herself off, and made her way to the cabbin.

Rarity was shaking in horror and Scootaloo was balling her eyes out.

Finally, Rarity found her voice, "p-please I think we should go inside... we... we have to go inside, come one close the door! Let's go!"

Twilight stared off at the distance as Dash hopped into the metal compartment. The Unicorn's mouth hung open in disbelief. But that sing-song moaning returned, a horrifyingly cute melody of vocalization like that of a whale but at a much higher pitch. It seemed almost mocking that such horrible beasts should make such a sweet sound.

The spires began cracking and falling apart as the adults came out to play. Dash took off her goggles, and her shining eyes saw through the darkness with perfect clarity; the grave site dissapeared as the columns shattered and contless adult Changelings took to the skies.

"What is it Dash?" Twilight dared to ask, "what do you see..."

Rainbow smiled, "like I said... it aint me you gotta worry about."

The creatures called out.

The planet rose, the rings went over the sun letting it shine for just a few moments in which the creatures cried in fury. And then... the planet itself eclipsed the sun...

And everything was Pitch Black.

****/*************


	3. Into the Darkness

Chapter Three, Into the Darkness

-The all encompasing shadow; that Twilight that enraptures the land before the sun falls leaving all in a state of perpetual penumbra until dawn... but sometimes... sometimes the sun doesn't rise... you're not afraid of the dark are you?- excerpt from the secret book of Bemnal the Fallen

A flashlight shined through the interior of the cabbin while Rarity attempted to activate her lighter.

"She should've stayed down..." Scootaloo whimpered, "if only she'd stayed down she would have been OK... she wouldn't have died..."

Pinkamena moved her flashlight around in the darkness, "anypony remember the boneyard? These just might be the fuckers that killed every living thing on this planet."

Another flashlight shined and Rarity's lighter ignited. With three souces of light from different angles it was a little easier to see.

"What are we gonna do now?" somepony asked.

Rarity sighed as she ignored the universal question, "are these the only lights we have? Is this everything?"

Twilight shook her head as she crawled around, "no, there's a cutting torch on the floor here somewhere... I just can't find it." And then those sing-song moans called out from the exterior of the cabbin's metal haul.

"Quiet! Please, everypony." Fluttershy said as she leaned up against the wall. All ponies present repeated the action and pressed their ears against the wall to hear those symphonic calls echoing in a beautiful melody.

"Why do they do that..." Scootlaoo asked, "make that sound?"

Fluttershy stood back from the wall running her flashlight along its surface, "perhaps... it's the way they see... with sound reflecting off-" SKKRRRNNNNGG

Everypony jumped and whipped around towards the end of the cabbin as the sound of tearing metal filled their ears at a painful decible. They could hear something crawling up the edges of the metal... their heads jerking around as the tinking clangs shuffled around the walls of the next room, and above on the second deck.

"It could be a breach in the haul, I don't know..." Twilight said as her flashlight scanned the walls.

Dash turned to the Earth Pony, "come on Pinkamena, you got the big gauge."

"I'd rather piss last... why don't you go fucking check?" Pinkamena replied.

Rarity's body shook, "I'm not staying here for one more second!" and turned to rush towards the entry way. "Where are you going?!" Pinkamena shouted, "hey!" ponies scrambled to grab hold of her but she slipped through them until Twilight got a firm grasp on her and slammed her into the wall. "you don't know what's out there!" the lavander Unicorn said sternly.

"Well I know what's in here!" she shot back as Fluttershy used a rebar to try and force open a door leading deeper into the cabbin. They could still hear the creature scuttling around as it dug its way into the hallway they presently resided within.

At last, Fluttershy nocked down the door and the ponies shuffled through. They hurried into the small box compartment and Fluttershy pushed the damaged door back against the hole and locked it against the wall with a padlock through the chin loop. Then she leaned back against the door and sighed in relief.

"Great!" Rarity through her hands up, "now we're trapped in a much SMALLER room with those things crawling around!"

The creaking of metal and scraping claws sounded out; the pone's faces shifted around. Then a long claw pierced through the door right next to Fluttershy's face, she shrieked in surprise and sprinted forward towards the group.

The melodious moans turned to screeches and clicking as the Changeling scraped and battered against the metal. Rainbow Dash used Rarity's lighter to ignite a cutting torch as Pinkamena began unloading her shotgun at the wall.

At last, Rainbow cut a hole through a nearby wall and the group hurried through into the storage area. Dash took off her goggles and silently walked inbetween the large canisters and cargo nets. The rest of the mares worked to secure a barricade in the hole they'd just climbed through.

Rainbow's walk was quiet and methodical as she stalked through the darkness, slowly she moved until a sound caused her ear to twitch; she turned towards the noise, and there sat a Changeling picking at the corpse of... another Changeling, driven mad by hunger it resorted to cannibilism.

The remainder of the mares now also made their way through the cargo hold; one of the Zebra colts in particular wandered over to where Dash was and suddenly gasped when a shreded pile of flesh fell at his hooves; he backed up against one of the cargo crates and looked up to see one of the Changelings stared down at him, its eye-less face contemplating him; hissing low as its tails flicked about.

"Extremely... bad... timing..." Dash said quietly as she appeared out of nowhere behind the colt.

Through the Changeling's point of view, its sounds reverberated and caught on the two protrusions sticking out of the sides of its head creating a rough black and white image of sonar showing Dash and the colt.

Meanwhile, over by another corner in the cargo hold, Twilight held a cutting torch while Pinkamena wielded her shotgun looking around for any sign of movement; they heard the low hum of the Changeling nearby.

But too far away and obscured by crates was the colt; his breathing going ragged while Rainbow quietly said, "just don't ruuuun~" in a singing voice before silently fading back into the shadows.

"Dash?!" Twilight called out.

"Don't... stop... burning..." she replied.

Twilight handed her cutting torch to PInkamena, "take this," and the pink mare began to cut another hole through the nearby wall.

Back with the colt and Dash, clicking sounds called out from above as a second Changeling landed atop one of the crates and looked down at the colt. It's caws opening from its hand as it reached down for him.

Fluttershy searched around with the group noticing one of the two remaining Zebra foals was missing, she called out his name.

The colt was too paralyzed to make a sound; the first Changeling was now also slowly opening its claws. The second Changeling took a swipe at the colt and he sprinted off in a random direction.

He made about 4 yards when a third Changeling popped out of the shadows and sliced him in half across the torso with a single mighty chomp.

The other two Changelings fought with each other as they clumsily soared down to the corpse and soon the three bit, slashed, and tackled one another as they battled to the death over scraps.

With the three creatures distraccted, Dash moved, but another sing-song moan caught her attention, she turned to see a fourth Changeling crawl out of hiding from behind a crate. "Fuck my life..." Rainbow abandoned running and spread her wings, soaring through the cargo hold at breakneck speeds as the Changeling gave chase.

As soon as they circled around to the group; the flashlights shined in Dash's eyes causing her to roar in pain as she covered her face and crashed into a few barrels. The Changeling that was pursuing her didn't fair much better when the lights hit its chitenous skin. It fell to the ground and howled in pain before leaping atop a crate. From there, Pinkamena stepped in and unload slug after slug into the creature.

Everyting was silent for a few moments...

Then the Changeling's corpse slumped to the ground with a thud causing everypony to jump and scream in surprise before hopping back.

Twilight swallowed, "is... is it alive?"

Pinkamena reloded slugs from the ammo strap on her vest. When they drew near, they saw their flashlights hitting the creature's skin and causing it to burn and sizzle as smoke lifted off.

"It's like the light is scalding it... like boiling water..." Rarity commented.

Twilight blinked, "it hurts them... light ACTUALLY hurts them..."

The Changeling's hand twitched causing a collective gasp before it fell limp against the metal floor.

They looked around as the sounds of the other Changelings filled the room.

Rainbow stood up and dusted herself off. Fluttershy called out for the missing colt fearing the worst.

"We'll burn a candle for him later." said Pinkamena before walking over to the hole she'd cut, "come on, let's get outta here." and kicked it in.

XXXXX

"So," Twilight began, "we've got one cutting torch, "we got two handlights, there's gotta be something we can rip out of the crash ship." she finished.

The group sat on boxes and crates around a small chest where their collective light producing gear sat.

Rarity pondered for a few moments, "spirits, anything over 40-proof burns rather well."

"How many bottles you got?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, maybe ten." Rarity answered.

Twilight nodded, "OK, Pinkamena, you got some flares... so... maybe we've got enough light..."

Pinkamena scoffed, "enough for fucking what?"

Twilight glared, "we stick to the plan! We get the four cells back to the Skiff, we're off this rock."

Rarity stood up, "look I hate to ruin a beautiful theory with an ugly fact, but that Sand Cap is solar. It won't run at night."

Twilight shook her head, "so, we carry the cells... we drag them, whatever it takes."

Scootaloo, who had her kneese curled up to her chest as she rocked back and forth looked up at Twilight, "You mean tonight?! While those things are out there?!"

Pinkamena put her hands on her hips, "alright, now how long can this last? A few hours? Day tops?"

Fluttershy fingered through her prayer beads, "I had an impression from the model... the two planets were moving as one... and there will be a lasting darkness..."

Pinkamena crossed her arms and shook her head, "these suns gotta come up sometime, and if these creatures are phobic about light, then we just sit tight. And we let the sun come up."

Twilight gave her a stern look, "I'm sure somepony else said that... locked inside that Coring Room."

Pinkamena mathed her glare, "we need to think about everypony here, especially the foal, how scared is this colt gonna be out there in the dark?" she gestured to Scootaloo.

"Don't use him like that." Twilight spat.

"Like what?" Pinkamena challenged.

"As a smoke screen, you deal with your own fear." Twilight replied.

"Why don't you shut your fucking mouth for two seconds and let me come up with a plan that doesn't involve mass suicide!" Pinkmamena shouted as the moans of the Changelings rang out from the outside.

Twilight stared, unimpressed, "I'm waiting."

Silence...

"How much you weigh Pinkamena?" Twilight asked.

Pinkamena blinked, "what's it matter Twilight?"

"How much?!" Twilight demanded.

"Around 79 kilos to be ex-" "Cause your 79 kilos of gutless white meat and that's why you can't think of a better plan!" Twilight cut in.

Pinkamena hopped up and yanked out her shotgun, "is that fucking right?!"

Dash Rushed next to her and Pinkamena whipped the tip of her gun's berral to Dash's face, "where do you think your going?"

Fluttershy glared at the three, "this solves nothing!"

Pinkamena stared down Rainbow. The Pegasus lifted her goggles and gave Pinkamena a 'really?' look with a tapping noise. Pinkamena looked downt to see Dash's shiv right next to her crotch. Pinkamena nodded, "Ok..." and sat back down with a smirk.

A few minutes later, ponies were sitting about; Twilight rubbed her hand comfortingly on Scootaloo's back, "they're afraid of our light, that means we don't have to be so afraid of them.

Fluttershy turned to the Unicorn, "and you're sure you can get us there? Even in the dark?"

Twilight stood up and faced her, "no, but she can." she gestured to Rainbow who paused and turned towards the group with an 'excuse me?' look.

XXXXX

Twilight opened the rear compartment of the cabbin to the pitch black of the outside, wielding the cutting torch. Behind her followed the group of ponies as they collectively made their way through the darkness towards the crashed ship.

Rainbow stepped ahead of the rest and pulled her goggles up as she looked into the black abyss of the ship; the violet light villing her vision of still metal beams and silent empty halls. She turned back to the rest, "looks clear."

Dash put her goggles back on as Pinkamena walked up in her combat crouch holding her gun.

Suddenly, a Changeling lept out of the ship screeching form the light before flying off into the darkness of the desert as ponies lunged for cover.

Everypony got back up and held her lights around but the beast had fled. Pinkamena glared at Dash, "you said clear!"

"I said it 'looks' clear." Corrected Rainbow.

Pinkamena peered up over the hill, "well what's it look like now?"

Dash looked into the ship and back, "looks clear..."

XXXXX

The ponies hustled through the ship and made their way to the control room; they fashioned a sled of metal and ripped out the plasma coils; the glowing blue flourescent tubes served as excellent lights in the dark.

Meanwhile, Pinkamena and Dash pulled out the power cells and Rarity fashioned small ropes into her remaining bottles of liqour before taking a sip of one and spiting it into the cutting torch producing a huge fireball; she smiled.

Rainbow Dash gave the game plan with her goggles up, "I'll be running about ten paces ahead, I want light on my back but not in my eyes." she shielded her face from the cutting torch. "And check your cuts, these bad boys know our blood now.

Scootaloo froze...

Rainbow now had a shoulder sash with a series of small flashlights strapped along her back in a diagonal line from shoulder to hip, together, she and Twilight opened a sliding door to the outside.

Rarity gulped as she looked out into the darkness, "are we actually going to do this?"

Twilight nodded, "we stick together... we keep the light burning... that's all we gotta do to live through this thing."

Twilight climbed up the hatch to the second deck where Pinkamena sat contemplatively on a box as she fingered one of her morphine cannisters. Twilight stood at the top of the stairs, "... are you ready Pinkamena?"

The Earth Pony leaned her head against the wall and chuckled.

"Look, we're just wasting light here." said Twilight.

Pinkamena sighed, "you give her the cells... and a ship... and she'll leave you all out there to die... She'll leave all of you..."

Twilight shook her head, "I don't get it Pinkamena... what is so gods-damn important in your life that you're afraid of losing?"

Pinkamena smirked.

"Is there anything at all?" Twilight turned around, "besides your next spike?" and descended the stairs.

XXXXX

The entire group of ponies stood at the exit of the ship with the sled and their remaining lights

One of the fuel cells on the sled attatched to the plasma cords, four of which were wrapped around the torsos of Scootaloo, the Zebra colt, Rarity, and Twilight. Ahead, two ponies had ropes attatching them to the sled to pull; Fluttershy stood at the right helm with a cutting torch and and Pinkamena at the left with her shotgun. Rainbow Dash stood at the front most center.

They took a moment... and then they ran into the pitch black of the night.

Everypony in the group kept whipping their heads around as the sled was dragged across the sand at a brisk jogging pace. Even Dash couldn't help but look around.

For there... just past the thresshold of the lights, the group was completely surrounded by dozens of Changelings stalking the perimiter of darkness as the ponies ran. Parting at the front to move around the sides and join the rest in the back.

The worst part perhaps, was that they weren't clicking or hissing or screeching or even moaning... they were just silently stalking...

They were particularly focused on Scootaloo...

The cutting torch in Fluttershy's hand went out and she gave a small whimper.

And as the three ponies in back paused at the light dying down; the Changelings finally began to call out with their beautiful song.

Fluttershy turend back to the lagging ponies, "well stay close!" she said chastizingly.

They rushed forward. Rarity reached into a box on the sled and pulled out one of the makeshift molative cocktails and prepared to light it; unfortunately, the clumbsy grab resulted in one of the flares falling out and rolling off into the sand.

Scootaloo spoted it and took her plasma cord off; "wait!" She called out before rushing over to teh flare. "SCOOTALOO!" Twilight shouted. Scootaloo ignored her and reached for the flare just as everypony else looked up to see a few Changelings closing in on her.

The Changelings hung on the edge of the shadows; most not wanting to risk flying into the light. But just as Scootaloo reached the flare, one of them decided to throw caution to the wind and dove in. Fluttershy threw her plasma cords off and lunged ontop of Scootaloo and rolling her out of the way just as Pinkamena rushed in firing off her gun.

Pandamonium broke out.

Pinkamena constantly turning around firing at the darkness trying to follow the sounds of the creatures, Twilight ran for Fluttershy and Scootaloo; Rarity screamed and shuffled randomly around.

One of the ccreaturs dove for Rarity just missing her but the force of the gale knocked her down; she shrieked and began crawling in a randome direction mumbling, "this can't be happening, this can't be happening!"

Twilight turned to the white Unicorn and shouted, "RARITY! GET BACK HERE!"

And then it happened... Rarity strayed so far from the sled that the plasma cords around her yanked the power cell off the slay and the cords popped out of the tube; that horrifying sound of electrical units shutting out rang out with a low hum of fzzzzzzzzwwwwwwwwooooooooo...

The plasma cords went dark.

Rainbow pulled out her shiv. Pinkamena drew her small tactical flashlight. Fluttershy helped Scootaloo up, "are you alright?" the filly nodded.

Rarity continued to crawl along, "this can't be happening, this can't be happening!" and suddenly she stopped... having realized that the lights went out; she was surrounded by an impenetrable darkness...

Shifting... sounds of movement around her; she jumped and jerked her head around in every direction. The sound of clicking... then hissing. Something flew past her. A singular slicing sound as claws tore at her back with such speed she almost didn't feel it until after the fact... she stood on her kneese as the sliced plasma cords fell to the ground.

She put her right hand on her back and used her left to pull out her lighter and ignite it. There on her hand pooled the hot crimson liquid. Rarity's lip quivered as tears began to sting her eyes. She chocked out a single sob, "I was supposed to die in Prance..." she pulled out her whisky flask, "Cadenza, Prance..." she took a large swig, swallowed half of it, and spat the other half out through the lighter; a giant flaming sphere lit out the surrounding area.

Every side of her, just a foot or so away sat countless Changelings all huddled up ontop of one another, they screeched and drew back from the light before it died down. Then the lighter burnt out the last of its fuel. And there was darkness.

XXXXX

Twilight hit the bottom of the flare against her leg and a green fire lit up the darkness. The Zebra colt and Scootaloo lit up two of the molatav cocktails from the flare. Pinkamena stood nearby reloding and Rainbow joined them.

"Well it's good to see you're OK." Pinkamena quiped, not hiding the sarcasm in her voice.

Dash looked oever to the side; her eye shine seeing through the darkness and witnessing the Changelings tearing Rarity's body apart while butting heads and nipping each other as they fought for the juicy parts.

Twilight walked up behind the Pegasus, "do I even wanna know?"

Dash didn't answer.

Other Changelings hopped up onto a sandy hill and peered down at Scootaloo, sniffing and hissing. The orange Pegasus could practically feel them staring at her.

Soon; they lit more torches and continued along.

"Are we getting close?" asked Scootaloo.

Twilight looked forward to Pinkamena, "can we pick up the pace?"

The Earth Pony tossed the reigns of the sled into the ground as she stared at the rocks and sand. The Zebra colt whispered out something in questioning as they stared at the tracks of the sled.

Pinkamena walked up to Rainbow, "you wanna tell me what the hell's going on?"

Twilight frowned, "we crossed our own tracks."

Fluttershy didn't look any more amused, "why have we circled? Are we lost?"

Rainbow peered out into the darkness, "listen..."

Fluttershy scowled, "do you even know where we are?!"

"LISTEN!" Dash yelled.

The ponies went quiet as they tuned their ears. Changelings... everywhere, their hisses, clicks, and moans filling the night.

Dash gestured with her head, "canyon ahead, I circled once to buy some time to think."

Fluttershy looked around, "I think we should go now."

Dash chuckled, "Oh, I don't know about that... that's death row up there... especially with the filly bleeding."

Fluttershy furrowed her brows, "what?"

Pinkamena looked Twilight, the youngest mare in the group, "the fuck you talking about? She's not cut."

Rainbow smiled, "not her..." and turned to face Scootaloo, "her."

Everypony turned to face the Pegasus who's jaw quivered.

Pinkamena shook her head, "you gotta be kidding me."

"I...I just thought it would be better if ponies took me for a colt, I thought they might leave me al-" Scootaloo stammered.

"Geeze Scootaloo, why didn't you tell me?!" Twilight snapped. Scootaloo knelt down and curled into a ball.

Twilight sighed and squatted down next to her before putting a hand on her back, "I'm sorry, are you really bleeding?"

Scootaloo sobbed, "you wouldn't l-left me at th-the ship, s-so I didn't say anything..."

Fluttershy sighed. Rainbow, standing next to her looked around, "they've had their nose open for her ever since we left. In case you haven't noticed, they go on blood."

Twilight stood up, "look, this is not gonna work. We're gonna have to go back."

Pinkamena paused... then turned around, "what'd you say?" she began walking towards the Unicorn, "you're the one who got us into this mess in the first place and turned us into sled dogs."

Twilight dropped her head, "I was wrong, I admit it OK, can we just... get back to the ship?"

Pinkamena scoffed, "I don't know Twilight! Nice breeze, wide open space, I'm starting to enjoy my fucking self out here!"

Twilight glared at her, "what, you high again? Just listen to yourself Pinkamena."

"No, no, you're right Twilight, what's to be afraid of?! My life is a steaming pile of meaningless shit anyhow! So I say mush on!" Pinkamena shouted, "the canyon's only a couple hundred meters and after that it's Skiff city. So why don't you butch up," she pointed at Scootaloo, "stuff a cork in this fucking foal and let's go!"

Fluttershy stepped in, "SHE is the Captain! Not you, we should listen to her."

Pinkamena barked a laugh, "listen to her?!" she turned to Twilight with a sadistic smile, "when she was so willing to sacrifice us all?"

Scootaloo frowned, "wh-what's she talking about?"

Twilight shot daggers at Pinkamena, "this does not help us-" "During the crash," Pinkamena cut in, "she tried to blow the whole passenger cabbin and tried to kill us in our sleep."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Twilight roared.

"WE ARE FUCKING DISPOSABLE!" Pinkamena shouted back.

Fluttershy and the colt looked at the two of them in disbelief while Scootaloo began to break down and cry.

The arguing between Unicorn and Earth Pony escalated.

"WE'RE JUST FUCKING GHOSTS TO YOU!"

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING BLOWHOLE!" Twilight charged at Pinkamena who grabbed her incoming punch and flipped her around, slamming her into the ground.

Fluttershy ran inbetween, "ALRIGHT! You've made your point. We've all been scared."

Twilight lay silently on the ground as tears stung her eyes in shame.

"Ahhh Twilight..." Pinkamena mocked, "how much do you weigh now..." She lit a flare and turned to Fluttershy, "the verdict's in, we move forward."

XXXXX

Rainbow came up to the edge of a dune where Pinkamena stood with her flare. Dash held her hand up to block the light.

"Not all of us aint gonna make it." Said Pinkamena.

Dash walked past, "you just realize that?"

The two walked a ways ahead of the group.

"Six of us left..." Pinkamena chuckled, "If we could make it through the canyon and lose just one that'd be quite a feat huh?"

"Not if I'm the one." Rainbow responded.

"Well, what if you're one of five?"

A moan of a Changeling caused them both to pause and look off into the darkness for a few seconds... then they returned to walking.

"I'm listening..." said Dash.

XXXXX

Back in the group, Scootalooo asked, "what are they doing up there?"

"They're talking about the canyon I suppose, how to get us through." mused Fluttershy.

Back up at the helm, Pinkamena continued, "when battlefield doctors decide who lives and dies, it's called Triage."

Dash chuckled, "kept calling it murder when I did it."

Pinkamena smiled, "either way, I figured it was something you could grab on to."

XXXXX

Back with the group, they could just barely make out a few words here and there. "-k of a body at the start of the canyon, like a bucket of bait." "treugh with it, you got extra rope on the sled?"

XXXXX

Pinkamena continued, "we drag the body 40-50 feet behind us."

"Nice embelishment." commented Dash.

"Ya well, I don't wanna feed them, I just wanna keep 'em off our asses." Said Pinkamena.

"So which one caught your eye?" asked Dash as she turned around to look at the group. Pinkamena hit her arm, "no, no, don't look! The hell's a matter with you?"

XXXXX

Twilight walked over to the yellow Pegasus, "Fluttershy, slow down... just a little more space between us and them..."

XXXXX

"Alright, enough of this shit. You do the filly and I'll keep the others off your back." Said Pinkamena.

Rainbow stopped.

Pinkamena smiled, "it's not too big a job for ya is it?"

Dash turned around, "I'm just wondering if I don't need a bigger piece of bait..."

"Ya, like who?"

The two stared at one another...

Dash's shining magenta eyes peering into Pinkamena's blue.

Tension began to escalate higher and higher as their eyes ever so slightly shifted; mal-intent behind them.

Dash spun around and knocked the flare out of Pinkamena's hand before ending her circle behind Pinkamena and yanking out her shotgun.

Pinkamena cought the gun with a block just as it fired out at the night sky.

XXXXX

"Leave this site! Let's move!" Twilight cried as the group fled.

XXXXX

Pinkamena wrestled with Dash for the gun, the nozle pointed up as it fired before pointing down and firing again.

XXXXX

"LET'S GO, LET'S GO!"

XXXXX

Pinkamena smashed her elbow into Dash's face, held onto the gun with one hand to straighten the Pegasus' arms, and used the other to smash upward onto Rainbow's left elbow breaking the joint.

Rainbow let go of the gun with her right hand and slammed a right hook into Pinkamena's face with such force she was knocked to the ground and nearly fell onto a bunch of outstretched sharp bones but caught herself just intime.

Dash grabbed her left forarm and snapped her elbow's joint back into place.

The two faced each other.

Dash took off the flashlight sash and held it in her lef thand as she and Pinkamena circled one another.

The sound of a hissing Changeling made Pinkamena look behind her for a split second before looking back to Dash. Rainbow didn't seem the least bit concerned with the creature's sounds.

The flare burned and burned in the sand; Dash pulled out her metal shiv.

Pinkamena pulled out her tactical knife; bouncing around as Rainbow calmly walked.

"One rule." said Dash. Then she feinted in and slashed across Pinkamena's knife knocking it out of her hand before backhanding the Earth Pony across the face with her flashlight sash knocking her to the ground. "Stay in the light."

Pinkamena shook her head, she pulled out her baton and spun around tripping Dash before bringing the weapon up and bearing down towards her face.

But Dash caught Pinkamena's forearm on her own and kicked her leg up knocking that out out of her hand as well.

Pinkamena used her free hand to grab Dash's shiv and attempted to stab down at Dash's throat, but the cyan mare grabbed the pink's wrist and began crushing it.

Pinkamena's face twisted in labor as Dash's hand slowly began moving hers to the side in a shaky gait of wrestling strength.

Rainbow peered into Pinkamena's eyes, "remember that moment?" and then yanked Pinkamena's hand to the right, shoved it up, and spun to the left knocking Pinkamena over onto her back.

Dash hopped over and picked up her shiv.

Just as Pinkamena stood up; Dash slashed her leaving a long wide gouge runing diagonally up her back over the exposed loop that the kevlar vest failed to cover.

PInkamena fell to the ground in pain.

"Thank you for takning the chains of Pinkamena!" Dash mocked as she began backing up into the shadows.

Pinkamena crawled over to her shotgun and picked it up.

The flare burned out as Pinkamena rolled onto her back.

"You were one brave fuck before..." Dash continued as Pinkamena began to relode her shotgun with the slugs on her 'ammo strap'

"You were really baddasss..."

Pinkamena loaded another slug.

"The chains..."

Another slug.

"The gauge..."

Another slug.

"The badge..." Dash's voice was now an echo on the wind.

Pinkamena groaned as she unsteadily got to her hooves and held her gun up... but Rainbow was gone... everything was gone... there nothing but darkness.

"Told ya to ghost me..." Dash's voice mocked from everywhere and nowhere.

Pinkamena heard the hiss of a Changeling as it soared past, she whipped around and aimed her gun.

More moaning; she turned around again.

And then came the flapping of wings as one dive bombed for her; Pinkamena was knocked to the ground as she fired a shot blindly. She got back up just as she heard the crunching of the rocks in the sand signalling one of them charging for her from dead ahead.

Pinkamena pulled the trigger... nothing happened... she pumped the shotgun and instead of a slug being expelled, one of her morphine cannisters flew out. Her eyes widened. Claws impaled her stomach and chest; she spewed forth blood as her body jerked.

Rainbow Dash watched from nearby, her eyeshine seeing through the darkness; watching as Pinkamena sputtered before the Changeling opened its mouth and chomped down on the mare taking her entire head off.

XXXXX

The four ponies ran through the darkness with ther torches, spinning around in all directions as the sounds of Changelings echoed out in the night.

They paused as the hissing rang out...

Then Twlight turned around. Everypony screamed as Dash stood before them.

"Back to the ship huh?" said Dash, "just huddle together until the lights burn out?"

"Get away from us!" Twilight said in a shaky voice as she backed up with the rest of the ponies.

"'Til you can't see what's eating you?" Dash continued, "that the big plan?"

Fluttershy panted, "where's Pinkamena?"

Dash turned to her, "which half?"

Scootaloo chocked back a sob, "we-we're gonna lose everypony out here..." she looked around at the noises of the beasts surrounding them, "we should've stayed at the ship."

Dash walked past the group, "he died fast. And if we have any choice about it, that's the way we should all go."

As she past a sniffling Scootaloo, she paused, "don't you cry for Pinkamena... don't you dare."

And then, she led them on.

The nightmare was just getting started.

****/**********/


	4. The Equine Side

Chapter Four, the Equine Side

-And when we are pushed to our limits, sometimes the best of us comes out... because it's when the shackles of society falls that being equine truly counts.- excerpt from the secret book of Bemnal the Fallen

Rainbow Dash approached the corpse of a falled and long dead Changeling, one of its elongated protrusions was snapped off. Dash picked it up and held it next to the creature's side; then she moved in close... and there she saw it...

"Blind spot..."

"Shall we pray for them?" Fluttershy's voice called out from behind. Rainbow spun around to see her standing there holding one of the molatav cocktails.

Rainbow sat against the corpse and began tying ropes through the handles of the fuel cells.

"I have already prayed for the others," said Fluttershy, "it is painless."

"It's pointless." Spat Dash.

Fluttershy frowned, "because you do not believe in the gods, does not mean that they don't believe in you."

Dash turned to the other Pegasus, "can somepony spend half their life in a slam... with a horse bit in their mouth not believe?" Her mouth and ears twitched, "think she can start out in some liqour store trash bin with an ambilical cord wrapped around her neck... and not believe?" she stared pensively at the ground before securing the ropes, "you got it all wrong holy mare, I absoloutely belive in the gods..." she turned to Fluttershy, "and I absoloutely hate the fuckers."

Fluttershy shook her head, "they are with us none the less."

Rainbow chuckled, "two of your colts are already dead, how much faith do you have left?"

Fluttershy glared.

XXXXX

The remaining survivors stalked through the night towards the valley where Changelings butted heads with each other and tumbled around before flying high into the sky.

Their screeches filled the air and the ponies looked around with unease.

At last, Dash stood up from her crouch, "only see one way," she pointed straight, "that way. It's the only way off this rock." She turned around, "just keep the filly between you."

Fluttershy turned, "what about the cells?" she asked.

Dash looked back, "I'll take those."

Rainbow put her goggles back on, "move..."

"Are you sure you can keep up?" Twilight asked.

"MOVE!" Rainbow shouted before charging through the valley dragging all four cells behind her. They sprinted a few meters when Changeling hatchlings soared through the air; but they stayed just high enough to avoid the light; Twilight was even able to lift her molatav high enough to set a few of them on fire.

The group pressed on. And then something green began oozing down onto the ground...

Twilight held her hand up to see a few of the green splatters raining down; some of them hittting the torches causing them to sizzle.

"DO NOT LOOK UP!" shouted Dash.

Twilight looked up... and saw the Changelings slicing each other open in the sky, "Th-they're killing each other!" One of the corpses was sent sailing down towards Twilight but Dash tackled her out of the way.

As they ran forth, more and more dead Changelings fell to the ground in front of them skewing their path and forcing them to slow down.

And then they stopped... as they encoutered the large ribcage bone corpse that the Sand Cap had smashed through when they made a break for the crash site. Bits and pieces of Changeling littered the skelaton.

"MOVE! KEEP MOVING!" Rainbow screamed.

They yanked at the toppled bones and threw corpses out of the way. Then they maneuvered throgh when one of the corpses turned out to be a Changeling playing dead and snatched the last Zebra colt's leg, he screamed for help as he dropped his molatave causing a burst of fire upon the ground.

Fluttershy rushed back and grabbed his hand trying to help him up; the Changeling crushed the Zebra's hoof and snapped the ankle bone as the fire spread until its light forced the creature to screech and fly away.

At last, Fluttershy was able to drag the colt through the maze of bones.

Scootaloo looked forward to see that Rainbow hadn't even stopped, "Rainbow!" she called out. Dash ignored her.

The Zebra cried and moaned while Fluttershy tore off a strip from her garbs and bound the wound; Twilight helping out where she could.

Scootaloo called out again, "Dash!" she said with tears in her voice.

Dash kept moving, dragging the cells along.

Then there was a Changeling moan from above, Scootaloo loked up to see one of the creatures dive bomb for her. She sprinted to the right and the creature smacked into an overhaning pelveis bone causing it to fall ontop of Scootaloo and trap her as the creature snapped its jaws at the bone; she screamed.

Rainbow turned around and looked on.

The Changeling slammed its head repeatedly at the bone and began to break through as Scootaloo roared and kicked back against it.

Dash slowly began to turn away; remembering... always remembering... that she was born an animal. And wild animals don't help ponies, they look out for themselves, they fight for survival... like Twilight. As Rainbow began to turn away; Twilight rushed over to Scootaloo grabbing a flashlight and holding it up to the creature while waving the molatav around, "GET OFF OF HER!"

The creature ignored her and continued to smash into the bone even as its skin bubbled and cracked.

Dash stood breathing hard as her mouth twitched and eyes shifted around; conflicting emotions and thoughts racing through her head.

The primitive side... the animal side...

Animals don't risk their lives to help others...

Look out for yourself...

Don't help others...

Fight...

Kill...

Survive...

Don't risk your life...

Don't act like a pony...

Don't be stupid...

Leave...

Leave them...

Leave them to die...

Get yourself out of there...

Live on...

Survive...

Survive...

Survive...

And all at once... her mind calmed at a single thought... like Twilight... Twilight wasn't a stupid pony like the rest... ready to blow the passenger hold... ready to abandon the lives of others... ready to fight like a rabbid wolf to survive... Like Twilight... Like an animal...

Like her...

At the very least...

At the very least... she deserves a fighting chance...

Rainbow pulled her goggles off, turned and charged for the Changeling just as it knocked the light out of Twilight's hand with its tail. It spotted Dash charging for it and dove at her. Rainbow caught the wrists of its claws in her hands with a roar and the Changeling pushed against her raw strength.

The creature snapped at Dash repeatedly but couldn't reach her. It lifted its head high for a powerful snap and then Dash lifted its claws up and thrust them down into the Changeling's stomach before spinning around, drawing her shiv and spin after spin after spin tore open the creature's belly spilling its green slime covered guts onto the ground.

The creature fell to the ground with a shriek as Dash stood covered in green blood. She then walked over to it, grabbed its protrussions and twisted violently snapping its neck.

Rainbow stood up, "... did not know who it was fucking with..."

Twilight and Scootaloo stared on in shock.

XXXXX

The group ran through the valley; how long had they been running... they were so tired... so hungry... so low on oxygen...

But they ran. The colt limping long as fast as he could while Fluttershy assisted him; Dash dragging the cells; they came up close to a hill.

The colt tripped and fell. Fluttershy knelt down and helpped him.

A sizzling sounded out... Scootaloo held her hand out to feel drops hitting her palm... but... it wasn't blood... it was, "water?" she looked up; storm clouds gathered... and it began to rain.

The water battled against the fires of the molatavs while Fluttershy picked the colt up and craddled him as she moved on.

Twilight's eyes bulged out, "no..." The ponies looked around in dismay as their only source of light began to flicker out; the sand beneath them turning to mud. Twilight she looked up as the drizzle turned into a downpour. Dash too paused, she looked up at the rain; and began to laugh. She turned to face the others and said, "So where the hell's your gods now?"

The ponies huddled under an outstretched part of the cliff while Rainbow climbed atop a tall rock to look over the hill.

Scootaloo and Twilight tried their hardest to relight one of the molatavs that had been put out by the rain.

Fluttershy finished synching the wound on the colt and Twilight turned to Rainbow, "Dash! Are we close?!"

Dash silently stared on.

Twilight began to sob as the Changeling's clicks and snarls echoed throughout the canyon, "JUST TELL ME THE SETTLEMENT IS OVER THE HILL!"

Rainbow's jaw rolled around and she swallowed, "we can't make it..." she said quietly.

Then one of the tails of a Changeling wrapped around the Zebra colt's neck and dragged him up the cliff face as it climbed.

Fluttershy felt the cloth of the bind slip out of her hands and saw the colt pulled up and over the edge of the canyon; she fell against the rock and cried out his name in dismay. She fell to the ground defeated and broke down crying.

Dash spotted a large rock nearby next to a hole in the cliff face, "HIDE HERE!" she called out as she shoved the rock aside.

Scootaloo, Twilight, and Fluttershy rushed inside before Dash plugged the hole up with the rock.

The three ponies sat silently...

"Why is she still out there..." asked Scootaloo.

XXXXX

Dash grabbed the cells and started climbing up the hill, struggling as she went with 280 pounds of technology weighing her down.

The mud was slippery and the terrain was terrible, but she climbed, she fought against the material and climbed.

The Animal Side...

You don't help others...

You fight...

You kill...

You live...

Everypony must fight for themselves...

Twilight has a chance now...

A chance to fight for her own life...

Dash continued to drag the cells.

XXXXX

Scootaloo poured the remainder of one of the bottles into the still lit Molatav. Even going so far as to strain the rope.

Water continued to trickle around them while Fluttershy tried to peer around the rock. The Changelings could still be heard out in the storm along with the thunder.

Scootaloo sighed, "she's not coming back is she?"

XXXXX

Rainbow finally reached the top of the hill and saw the settlement through her eye shine.

She paused... took one last look back at the hole near the bottom of the hill...

"... fight to survive Twilight..." she whispered.

And then raced towards the settlement.

XXXXX

The three ponies watched as the fire burned low, the last of the alchohol trickling away from the heat.

A scratching sound drew their attention to the rock; the scraping of Changeling claws against the stone. Moans of their monstrous song called out and echoed through the darkness beyond the cave.

The flame grew less and less bright... darker and darker...

Just as the flame burned out, the moans turned to growls.

And as they sat there, the flame flickering out, Pinkamena's words rang through Twilgiht's mind, 'you give her the cells... and a ship... and she'll leave you all out there to die... She'll leave all of you...'

XXXXX

At last, Dash arrived in front of the Skiff with the cells. There she stopped to take a breather.

XXXXX

Scootaloo and Twilight clasped their hands, they saw their coats slick and cold a-... wait... how can you see in total darkness?!

The two looked up at the source of the blue light; there they saw hundreds of small blue lights on the ceiling of the cave.

Fluttershy reached her hand up and cupped a few of them, bringing them down she opened her hand to reveal the cutest looking little alien glow worms you've ever seen.

XXXXX

Dash flicked the systems on; she hooked the cells up and the lights on the ship shined vibrantly throughout the night.

XXXXX

The ponies stuffed the last of the glow worms into the two bottles; tearing off the lables to allow the glass a clear shine into the darkness.

XXXXX

Dash stood at the opening of the docking bay; sitting there for a few moments before switching the dial to CLOSE and the docking hatch slowly lifted towards the ship. Rainbow took her flashlight sash off and smashed the lights against the wall of the ship.

XXXXX

Twilight climbed the rocks, climbed higher and higher towards the hill's surface; a bottle of glow worms shining like a small blue sun in the darkness. Once she reached the top; panting, soaking wet, and covered in mud; she saw the lights of the Skiff flashing in the distance.

XXXXX

Rainbow started up the pilot controls flipping through switches and starting the system take off prep.

XXXXX

Scootaloo and Fluttershy still sat within the cave; Scootaloo popped the last of the glow worms into the second bottle, only filling it half way. "That's the last I could find." she said.

Fluttershy sighed as she tapped the glass.

A smashing sounded out as somehting slammed against the rock; Fluttershy slwoly turned her head towards the cave entrance as Changelings rammed into the rock plugging it closed.

XXXXX

Dash fastened her seat belts when somethin moved in the corner of her eyes; she looked up and saw Twilight standing their through the glass of the ship's helm, holding a bottle of glow worms, panting in the rain.

She called out Dash's name.

Rainbow smiled.

The cyan Pegasus got up and opened the hatch as Twilight walked around to the docking bay of the Skiff.

Rainbow stood there with her goggles on, "strong survival instinct... I like that in a mare." she said seductively.

Twilight panted, "I promised them... that we'd come back with more light!"

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow, "did you?" she held her hands out against the arms of the docking hatch and leaned forward, "hm?"

Twilight huffed through clenched teeth as she threw the bottle at the ground, "WHAT ARE YOU SCARED?!" she shouted in rage.

Rainbow Dash threw her head back and roared in laughter, "Me? Afraid?"

Twilight stepped forward to the docking hatch, "come on Dash... there's gotta be some part of you that wants to rejoin the equine race."

Rainbow frowned, she squated down in an eagle perch, "truthfully, I wouldn't know how."

Twilight snarled, "well then, just give me more light for them and I'll go back myself!"

"OK." Rainbow chirped, she reached back and grabbed her broken flash light sash and tossed it to Twilight, "here you go."

The two stared at each other. Dash staring neutrally and Twilight staring in disbelief.

"Please... just come back with me..." she whimpered.

Dash looked skyward with her finger and thumb on her jaw as if in contemplation, "I got a better idea..." she looked back at Twilgiht, "come with me."

Twilight's heart stopped... the lighting flashed out around them.

And then her heart started back up; that thumping th-thmp... th-thmp... th-thmp... like echoing drumbs pounding in her ears, "y...y-you're fucking with me I know you are..."

Dash stared with complete seriousness written on her face, "you know I am?" she stood up, "you don't know anything about me... I WILL leave you here..."

Twilight's eyes stung with tears; she looked back in the direction of the cave as Dash said, "step inside."

Twilight's jaw quivered, her breath came out in rappid bursts, she fell to her kneese, "I-I can't..." she sobbed.

"Sure you can." Dash said matter of factly.

"I-I can't.." Twilight's body jerked and spazmed as she began to cry with images of Scootaloo and Fluttershy passing through her head.

"Here, I'll make it easy on you." Rainbow held out one of her hands.

Twilight sputtered as her nose clogged with snot at tears poured through.

"Take my hand," Dash said softly, "come on."

Twilight curled into a ball shakking her head as she cried.

Rainbow sighed, "look, nopony's gonna blame you; save yourself Twilight!"

Twilight weakly lifted her head; her face drenched with sweat, rain, tears, and snot, "p-please..." she squeaked out.

"Come on," Dash said as she stepped down, "come on," she helped Twilight up.

Twilight's legs weakly flopped as she half cralwed-half dragged herself into the Skiff.

"That's it." Rainbow cooed.

Twilight stood with her breath shaking.

"Good girl."

A few moans of Changelings from the distance caused Dash to turn around and growl.

Twilight limply walked into the Skiff like an empy ghost... stopping at the top of the ramp; her mind flashed with the sight of the passengers in Books and Branches; the flashing red lights, the ponies trapped in their cryo tubes; screaming for help as her hand held the purge lever.

The Animal Side...

Fight...

Kill...

Survive...

Live...

Twilight's memory played out as she pulled the lever only for it to catch as Spike sabotaged the air lock.

Twilight's breath caught. Spike...

'When things were at their worst... Spike was at his best... he's the one who stopped the Docking Pilot from dumping the passenger cabbing to level the ship...'

The Animal Side...

Fuck the animal side. What about the Equine Side? What about being a decent pony? About selflessly putting other's needs before your own?

Twilight's face and body went hot, filling with an inner fire.

What about fighting for those too weak to fight for themselves? What about saving the helpless? What about giving others a chance to survive?!

WHAT ABOUT BEING A FUCKING EQUINE BEING?!

Twilight turned around and tackled Dash into the mud with a roar.

"NOW YOU! YOU LISTEN TO ME! I am the Captain of this ship! And I... am not leaving anypony on this fucking rock with those things; even if I have to go through y-" she swung her fist down but Dash caught it and kicked her legs up flipping Twilight over her; then spun her around and dragged her underneath so that Dash was ontop of her and pulled out her shiv holding it to Twilight's neck.

"Get that thing off my n-" "SHUT UP!" Dash interrupted, "would you die for them?"

"I would try for them!" Twilight replied.

"You didn't answer me, would you die for them?" Dash repeated.

"Yes I would... I would Rainbow... I would die for them..." Twilight answered.

Rainbow pulled her goggles off and stared down at Twilight. "... how interesting.."

XXXXX

Scootaloo and Fluttershy jumped as they heard something bashing against the rock at the mouth of the cave... so the Changelings were at it again? The rock shifted and rocked as ever more force was applied and soon it was shoved aside.

Fluttershy stepped in front of Scootallo and spread her wings defensively.

Twilight popped into sight at the hole.

And behind her was Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo beamed, "never had a doubt!"

Dash smiled back, "anypony not ready for this?"

Fluttershy met her gaze, "there are my gods Rainbow Dash."

XXXXX

The ponies charged through the mud and rain with the two glowing bottles.

Dash leading with her goggles off; they paused when Dash held her hand out; through her vision she saw a few Changelings landing ahead of her.

The four ponies ducked behind a boulder for cover. Dash watched as the Changelings tussled and wrestled with one another for a while until a clear path opened up.

The four ponies grabbed hands. "NOW!" they charged through and the creatures shrieked at the burning light of the glow worms before soaring off into the sky.

Finally, they reached the hill, "don't stop!" Flutteshy called out, "don't stop!" they slid and tripped and flopped as they climbed their way up the muddy soaked hill; so slippery now as a small waterfall coarsed down it.

Dash grabbed each of them and flapped her wings to drag them up the hill, "move! Move! Come on! You know the way!" she pused the last of them forward as the Changelings that had fled returned with the fading light.

Dash crawled backwards up the hill flapping her wings for leverage as the Changelings stalked towards her.

XXXXX

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo finally arrived at the Skiff.

XXXXX

Rainbow sprinted through the settlement as the Changelings chased her down; smacking into buildings and crates as Dash took to the sky and maneuvered around the facility.

XXXXX

The three ponies panted as they climbed into the Skiff, "onboard! Come on!"

XXXXX

Rainbow Dash dove into an archway as the Changelings soared overhead; she snuck through the tunnel until her violet vision was filled with yet another Changeling landing right in front of her. Dash froze.

It turned and looked in the opposite direction moaning out its sonar song.

XXXXX

Twilight stepped out of the Skiff and looked around; but there was no sign of Rainbow Dash anywhere...

XXXXX

The creature began to turn around. Rainbow raced up in front of it and stood inches away from its face.

The Changeling looked around; its sonar vision scaning the area as it clicked, turning left and then right.. Dash mirrored its movements staying firmly in its blind spot.

At last, the Changeling turned away.

Then another landed at the opposite entrance of the tunnel behind Dash.

"Oh, fuck my life..." Rainbow muttered, the first Changeling whipped around as it hissed; both Changelings seeing the pony between them.

The first one facing Dash saw her slowly raise her shiv.

XXXXX

Twilight stared out into the darkness of the storm.

The two Pegasi stood along the ramp leading into the Skiff.

Fluttershy spoke up after a few moments, "Twilight..." her voice held that melancholy that said 'she's not coming back'

Twilight looked away biting back tears.

After a few more moments... she began to turn away. Then the sound of Rainbow screaming echoed through the air.

Scootaloo jumped; Fluttershy held her back, and Twilight charged after the sound.

XXXXX

Twilight crossed through the facility holding a glow worm bottle; she heard Changelings snarling and squeaking in pain; she heard Dash yelling and the sound of both flesh and chiten slicing.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called out; she spun around in circles as the rain poured down; more lighting flashing with thunder echoing in its wake.

"DASH?!"

Sounds of Changelings soaring through the air.

Then something crashed into some nearby drumb barrels. Twilight yelped and jumped back as Dash's body fell into the mud; her skin marred with ugly gashes and teeth marks, bleeding profusely on the ground.

She forced hersefl ontop of a drop, still holding her shiv drenched in green blood; she panted heavily and her body shook from system shock of the trauma her body had experienced.

Twilight rushed in and wrapped her arms around Dash, pulling her up to her hooves; "OK... hold on to me... hold on to me, come on!" she at last got Dash's heavy body up, slumping against her front as Twilight walked backwards dragging Rainbow along, "I'm gonna get you outta here, come on.." Dash tried to stand, her hooves slipped in the mud and she fell; hitting the ground hard.

"COME ON DASH! GET UP!" Twilight roared. She dragged Rainbow's body back to her hooves, "get up! GET UP! I said I'd die for them, not for you! LET'S MOVE!"

They stumbled a few yards when a horrifiying SHLK sound filled the surrounding air.

Everything went silent...

A Changeling stood behind Twilight with its claws embedded in her back.

Twilight stared forward with a slightly open mouthed distant expression.

Dash stared back, eyes wide, with a strange mix of emotions in her face... she could almost swear one of them was sadness...

And then Twilight was yanked into the air by the Changeling as she screamed; her hand ripped right out of Rainbow's grasp.

Dash's body weakly fell to the ground.

'I said I'd die for them, not for you! LET'S MOVE!'

"Not for me..." tears stung at Rainbow's eyes for the first time in decades, "not for me..." she pounded her fist into the ground, "not for me..." her huge muscles shook as she cried, "not for me..."

More Changelings fell down around her, she slowly stood up with a disturbing calm... then she looked up at one of them and in a split second, tackled into it with a scream of pure rage. Her shiv burried into the Changeling's face and stabbed over and over and over and over.

Another creature lept for her from behind, she hopped ten feet into the air with a flap of her wings and landed on its back burrying the shiv into its neck and twisting before ripping it out sending green blood spewing across the muddy ground.

Lighting flashed and thunder roard; Dash soared through the skies and tracked down the Changeling from before; it was atop the reasearch facility picking at what still remained of Twilight's body; she slammed into it tackling it into a roll until they fell off the roof of the building.

XXXXX

Rainbow Dash closed the hatch to the Skiff, covered in bandages; Scootaloo lay along one of the benches curled up in a ball; Fluttershy sat holding her prayer beads and fingering them through her hand, "there's so much prayer to make up for... I scarcely know where to begin..."

Scootaloo looked up, "I know where I'd start..."

Dash flipped on the switches of the Skiff until all of its lights shone out through the storm. She buckled intot he Pilot's seat. Then she gradually began to lift the take off lever... and then she stopped...

She brought the lever back down and flipped all of the lights off save for the auxillery.

Scootaloo frowned, "Dash, what are you doing?"

Rainbow stared through her eye shine out the windows as all the lights went out... Changelings landed around the area; waving their tails as they aproached the vessel.

The Pegasi could hear the creatures climbing around the Skiff and skittering around the haul.

Fluttershy and Scootaloo looked around as the sound of claws scrapping against metal filled their ears.

Scootaloo turned to Dash, "can we just get the hell outta here please?"

Rainbow turned back to her with a dark look, "we can't leave yet."

One of the Changelings smashed into the glass; its face comedically smoshed up against the material.

Dash looked into its eye-less face, "without saying goodnight."

Then she revved the engine lever to maximum; the engines fired up a blast of head and flame so intese it fried the dozens of Changelings behind them before the Skiff launched into the air; Changeling after Changeling smacked into the helm window; their bones shattering and chitin cracking causing green blood to splatter over the glass like a car sailing through the highway and hitting a swarm of bugs.

Dash glared demonically into the night of the sky as each creature slammed against the glass breaking their spines and necks.

XXXXX

At last... the ship left the Planet's atmosphere and entered into the depths of space...

Rainbow Dash pushed a few buttons and set the ship into auto pilot.

Scootaloo sat in the chair next to her and strapped herself in, "Lot of questions... whoever we run into... could even be a merc ship... so what the hell do we tell them about you?"

Dash inhaled a long breath through her nose before exhaling, "tell them Rainbow Dash is dead..." she turned to Scootaloo, "she died somehwere on that planet..."

Scootaloo and Fluttershy smiled; and the three Pegasi looked out into the depths of space... and hopefully... to a brighter future.

THE END

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Or is it?

Their ship silently sailed through the darkness...

'A lot of questions... whoever we run into... could even be a merc ship...'

And there it sat; a collosal vessel.

Warning lights flashed throughout the ship as the Skiff's system called out HAUL BREACH CONTAINED. ENGINES OPERATING AT 170% CAPACITY

Rainbow Dash flipped a few switches and powered down the ship.

The giant merc vessele hat a harpoon shot through one of the Skiff's wings and slwoly dragged it within the giant space-craft.

Fluttershy fingered her prayer beads.

CRITICAL SYSTEMS FAILER IN FIVE SECONDS... FOUR... THREE... TWO... ON-

Dash fully powered down the ship; everything went silent. She turned to Scootaloo, "first you're a colt, then you're a filly, now you're a psychic... Careful what you wish for Scootaloo..."

Scootaloo gave an innocent smile as she pushed her finger tips together as if to say 'heh... oops?'

Then a voice rang out, "Unidentified craft, state your purpose and contents..."

They didn't answer...

XXXXX

Onboard the massive ship; a white coated mare with bulging muscles and an electric blue mane with pink goggles on her eyes repeated, "unidentified craft, state your purpose and contents..."

In front of Vinyl Scratch sat a small group of tech experts; large rigged helpets with screens behind them landed atop their heads as they typed hundreds of words a minute.

Vinyl waited a few seconds before repeating yet again as her agitation began to rise, "unidentified craft... state your purpose and contentns!"

Ya...

...

...

Dash, Scootaloo, and Fluttershy weren't out of the woods just yet...

/***********/*************

Stay tuned for: Rainbow Dash: Dark Fury! an inbeteween-short-story taking place between the events of Pitch Black and Chronicles! See you in the next and final chapter!

Review if you liked.


	5. Dark Fury

Chapter Five, Dark Fury

Rainbow Dash: Dark Furry

-Into the night we swept, searching, calling, digging, roaring... fight or flight til the day's end. Til the shadows sweeps the land once more in this ever lasting Dark Furry.- excerpt from the secret book of Bemnal the Fallen

"Unidentified craft; state your purpose and contetns." Vinyl repeated.

XXXXX

"Name's Pinkamena," said Dash, "my ship got scrapped in the transport lane, my only other survivors from the whole mess are with me."

XXXXX

Inside the ship; the tech specialists scanned her voice; a database of criminals flew up until one in particular popped up on screen: RAINBOW DASH. MATCH CONFIRMED. BOUNTY: CALCULATING UDs

XXXXX

"Outside of that, we got nothing." Rainbow finished.

XXXXX

Vinyl 'hmm'ed as she surveyed the screen with a large high callibur riffle on her back.

"Tell me... 'Pinkamena'... what brings you to this lonely corner of space?" Vinyl asked through the com.

XXXXX

"I'm a bounty hunter."

XXXXX

Vinyl pressed a few buttons through the large screen on the back of the tech's head, "then it looks like we got something in common."

BOUNTEY CONFIRMED: 1,126,000

Vinyl rose an eye brow under her glasses and turned to face a mare shrouded in exquisite garbs who sat in a golden throne.

The mare nodded to Vinyl.

The Unicorn turned back to the screen, "bring 'em in."

XXXXX

The ship was hoisted and retracted into the merc vessel.

"They're reeling us in!" exclaimd Scootaloo.

Inside, a couple of large clamps locked onto the wings of the Skiff and held it in place as a voice called out on the intercom: "Ship is secure in bay 3."

Inside the Skiff; Rainbow pulled out a lighter and ignited it before using the flame to start up a cutting torch.

"No offense," said Scootaloo, "but I don't think that's gonna cut it for whatever's coming for us!"

Dash ignored her as she held the torch up to the smoke detector.

XXXXX

Scanners locked on to the Skiff from the vessel's control room.

"Report." Vinyl said as she walked along the main deck of the luxurious ship.

One of the techs answered, "two heat signitures, adults... there's some residual as well, could be... a jouvenile... more likely burn off from teh engines..."

Vinyl locked her jaw, "find out."

XXXXX

Rainbow focused the flame on the smoke detector before saying: "hold your breath."

XXXXX

The tech punched in a bunch of numbers; "running a tighter sweep..." suddenly the heat signitures vanished.

"Wha?! Wait a minute..." the pony squinted.

"What is it?" Vinyl turned to face the tech.

"It's the sweep... according to what I'm getting... they're gone..." the computer rang out wth: SEARCH COMPLETE

"Gone?" Vinyl inquired.

"Nothing inside that ship's putting out heat anymore... how that's possible..." he trailed off.

Vinyl scowled.

XXXXX

Soon, Vinyl led a group of mares and stallions through a long cylindrical corridor; each loaded up with all manner of weapons before arriving in front of bay 3. There she stopped and met the two security ponies, "anything?" she asked.

"No mam, nopony's been in or out of this bay since i locked it down myself. Zero atmosphere." answered one of the stallions.

Vinyl nodded, "pressurize."

The stallion pressed a few buttons, "we got O2, it's thin but you'll be able to breath it. Green for breach."

Vinyl's face became grim, "earn your keep."

The haul doors opened and the mercs hopped through the zero gravity bay. Inside, some floated up to the top using magic to magnatize their hooves, Pegasi drifted idly in the air and Earth Ponies landed on the walls and ground.

"There is a mare inside this vessel," Vinyl began, "who is something far worse than anypony here has ever encountered." she tossed a bullet at the ground and it ricocheted off back into her head before she tossed it to a nearby sniper, "should any of you survive this day; it is one you will remember for the rest of your lives." Vinyl continued as her hooves megnatized to the metal floor with magic; "do not underestimate the importance of such a thing." she finished.

She turned to a demolition expert and said: "begin." the stallion nodded and launched himself at the Skiff.

Once he landed, he placed a lock breacher magnet to the docking hatch and pressed through a few buttons as the combination rang out. The stallion then gently pushed off and floated away before pulling out a gun and a combat knife.

Everything was silent for a few moments... then the hatch burst open and a white foam extended outwards consuming the stallion as he yelped.

The foam expanded further and further until half of the mercenaries were consumed by the sphere.

Then the first stallion wam to its surface coughing, he picked a bit of the foam out and sniffed it, "... extinguishing foam?"

Vinyl's eyes bulged open, "FALL BACK! EVERYPONY FALLBACK!"

Too late.

The stallion yelled as something pulled him into the foam and broke his neck before taking his combat knife.

Suddenly, each of the mercs who tried to swim out of the foam were pulled in one by one; pools of blood replacing them.

After just a minute or so; the entire foam ball was stained red.

The remaining mercs aimed their guns at the large sphere while Vinyl glared at it, "...she hast to breath some time..."

Then a head popped up, Scootaloo's she gasped for breath and dove back underneath just as bullets were unloaded into the foam.

Down underneath, Fluttershy's head popped out as she too gasped for breath beore diving underneath.

Then, Dash soared out past two of the merc slashing their stomachs open as she went; flapping her wings to direct her zero gravity flight. She landed on a wall and kicked one of the mercs in the air; flapping her wings in reverse tocreate artificial gravity pressing her against the wall as she ran.

She stabbed at the second merc who ducked, then she kicked the merc in the chest sending her flying while dropping her gun. Dash grabbed it and unloaded into the merc as well as the one behind her.

A stallion tried to attack Rainbow from behind, she slammed the but of the gun into the stallion's face busting his nose open.

Holding the knife in her mouth, Dash tossed the empty gun at one of the two new stallions ahead of her to disttract him before lunging forward and upwards kneeing him in the chest and shattering his ribs; she pulled the knife out of her mouth and stabbed the second stallion in his neck.

Flapping her wings again, she glided over towards a ramp leading up to the entrance of the docking bay; bullets flying at her but missing as she charged, her wings giving mighty beats behind her to increase her running speed and suddenly she was in front of the firing stallion; she impaled him in the stomach with her knife before whipping him around and using his body as a meat shield to block some in coming bullets.

Vinyl stood smiling from the mouth of the docking bay entrance, "you certainly know how to make an entrance!"

Dash turned towards the voice and ducked just as bullets flew overhead.

Scootallo popped her head out of the goup and snatched a floating riffle, "that's nothing scarecrow! She's gonna kick your ass so-iep!" Fluttershy yanked the filly back inot the foam as bullets rained on them.

Vinyl's field of vision turned from the slaughter of her mercs to the foam. She teleported above it and magnatized herself downwards just as Scootaloo popped out again for a breath; her hoves slammed into the filly and pinned her down on the floor of the docking bay.

There she pulled out her large riffle and held it pointing at Scootaloo's head; a large sword-like rod sheathed along the gun's length; Vinyl's horn glowed as it was switched on with telekinesis and the rod began to glow and vibrate at a high frequency as wubs sounded out around it. The bass sound vibraded the rod as superheated plasma jerked around at such high speeds that what appeared to be a light saber formed as a sword-bayonet on the riffle.

The tip of the sono saber pressed against Scootaloo's forhead as she gasped. "I think not." Said Vinyl before turning to Dash, "what do you say?"

Rainbow looked back at her, holding a merc down by his neck with the combat knife in her other hand, "call off your lapdog..." she turned away from Vinyl and up towards the docking bay, "before her trying to impress you gets her killed."

Up atop the dockinb bay entrance, the mare from the throne stood, "am I so obvious?" she asked in a sing-song voice.

"Call it what you want." Dash turned back to Vinyl, "but tell her to stand down, now."

The mare atop the bay entrance laughed in a posh voce; her robe fell down and there stood a tall beautiful tan Earth Pony with a long sea of charcol hair and violet eyes.

Octavia wore an exotic black dominatrix outfit with black leather criss crossing around her torso; long black socks and arm stockings going up to her thighs and upper arms with an ebony collar around her neck bearing a dangling purpel music symbol. "You'll have to excuese Vinyl's excitement," she said still maintaining that rich high-class silky voice, "it sometimes makes her a touch... quick... though I can't say I blame her." she put on hand on her hip and leaned seductively to the side, "you see, she's just heard so much about you... Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow's face contorted into a growl.

"Yes, I know your name," Octavia continued, "quite a bit more about you I think."

"Careful," Dash warned, "you might find what you're looking for."

Octavia laughed, "I'm willing to share of course; but I must ask that you surrender your weapons." she looked around at the plethora of pony corpses floating around with globs of blood trailing after them. "Before anymore of my, apparently, over-paid associates meet an untimely end."

Dash gave a hum, "mmmm ya, not gonna happen."

Octavia rose a perfectly curved brow, "no?"

Vinyl began to slowly pull the trigger of her gun.

Dash looked back to Scootaloo, "the filly... is nothing to me..."

Octavia smiled, "then enlighten me... why would a stone-cold killer such as yourself go to all the trouble of keeping the likes of her alive?"

Fluttershy's head popped out of the foam for a few breaths.

"Unless of course," Octavia continued, "you've grown attatched?"

Dash scowled, "she's a cover story... nothing more. You shoot her now and you'll be saving me the trouble." she said indifferently.

Scootaloo's eyes brimmed with tears.

Octavia smirked, "then I have your blessing." with that, she turned around and began to walk away.

Scootaloo stared up with tear filled eyes at Vinyl's pink tinted rave glasses as the mare pressed the Sono Saber into her forhead, the sound of the reverberating wubs crackling as the laser ripped the air molecules and began to plit through her skin like a superheated knife.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and prayed.

There was a grunt, a sound of metal hitting metal and the gun was forced to the side as it fired a shot through the floor. Dash's knife stuck out of the gun's side.

Octavia stopped, "maybe I know more about you than you do yourself." and left.

Rainbow stood up and stomped on the merc's head splattering her skull like a watermellon, "now just aint the time..."

Octavia's voice sounded out, "lock them down."

Vinyl's gun was finally pulled away from Scootaloo's head much to her relief, a small red dot of cartirized blood marked where the Sono Saber had pressed against her flesh.

Some more mercs came in and grabbed the three Pegasi.

Vinyl returned to her mistress's side, "My appologies." she said monotonously.

"Oh you know how worthelss those are to me," Octavia responded, "you did well. Ponies die in this line of work dear Vinyl, so what if a few mercs die? A handful of stallions and mares is a small price to pay."

Vinyl stared at Dash as she was taken away, "what will you do with he-" "-patients Vinyl." Octavia cut in, "have Rainbow brought to my conservatory... I have something... beautiful in mind for her... Oh and Vinyl, be a dear and unfreeze some more mercs."

XXXXX

Ouside, the Skiff was released into the depths of space, passing by the glorious form of the merc ship.

XXXXX

Rainbow Dash was strapped to a table elevated at an angle and dragged along on wheele while Fluttershy and Scootaloo were led by a pair of guards. Around them were countless cryo tubes on each side of the hallway stretching up higher than their eyes could see.

Fluttershy let out a breath, "have you ever seen anything like this before?" she asked as she looked around with her hands bound as were Scootaloo's.

Rainbow looked around, "merc ships? Pleanty... just trying to figure out how it all goes together..."

Fluttershy frowned in disgust, "it's a plantation opperation... a boat like this loads up at port, signs on as many mares and stallions as it can hold... then goes out for months... years at a time however long it takes to fill their stores..."

Rainbow looked around at the cryo pods, "'cept merchant rigs usually harvest ore... maybe crops... not ponies..."

Fluttershy looked up at the lines and rows, "captured bounties on one side..." she turned to the opposite wall, "contracted mercenaries on the other..."

Scootaloo scowled, "just add heat..."

Rainbow chuckled, "you know a lot abou this shit... for a holy mare..."

Fluttershy shrugged, "I hear things." she said simply.

Rainbow then turned and looked to one of the mercs escorting her, "must be a special kind of desperate dick who signs on to this."

The merc pistol whipped her across the face, "SHUT UP!" he yelled.

Rainbow looked at him with a smirk as blood trailed down her mouth, "you're the exception of course; for you it's life experience."

The ponies and guards arrived at the checkpoint.

Scootaloo leaned in, "so what's the plan? It's not like we haven't gotten out of worse situations." she said with a smirk, "the way I see it, we can take these jerks wi-hey!" one of the mercs grabbed her shoulder; "this is where we get off princess."

Another merc grabbed Fluttershy, "you too priestess" he spat.

As Fluttershy past Dash she said, "I will pray."

Rainbow smirked, "not for me."

Scootaloo watched as Dash was wheeled off in one direction before she was shoved off in the other screaming the whole while, "I won't leave you Dash! I'll find you!"

XXXXX

Dash was brought inside a seperate section of the ship filled with what looked to be blue hardened jelly sculptures of ponies.

"Set her down and leave." Vinyl commanded from the bottom of a set of stairs. The mercs unchained Rainbow leaving only her hands bound and left.

Dash cracked her neck and began to descend the stairs; her eyebrow rose under her goggles at the large room before him: there stood hundreds of blue crystalized ponies... it took her a few seconds to realize they weren't sculptures, but actual living breathing ponies frozen in place, each locked into an artistic postion and set up on displate int he white and blue room; electric techno lights ran through the walls and ceiling like a cyborg-design.

The solid electric blue marble at her hooves reflected like a mirror and showed the giant spire hanging upside down from the ceiling bearing a large spiral of ponies each positions along its length.

Vinyl held her hand out leading Dash forward.

Rainbow Dash leaned into one of the 'statues' a Pegasus with various lines throught his mane indicating the same rainbow-streak as Dash's; his face locked into a battle cry.

Looking down, she saw a name plate: Killer of Stallions- Planet: Furya.

Rainbow Dash looked back up at the statues and poked the tongue... it slid down over her finger. She recoiled and blinked.

A door nearby opened and Dash turned to see Octavia enter with a glass of wine. Vinyl then injected something into Dash's neck. The Pegasus fell to the ground and turned to Vinyl, "alright... you have my attention..."

Octavia walked near, "a necessary precaution, you attempt anything... uncivilized; killing me for instance, I activated the explosive device Vinyl just implanted," she held up a detonator, "and sleep very well tonight."

Dash turned to the hundreds of frozen ponies, "you're not putting me on a pedastle?"

Octavia smiled at her, "no, of course not, you're strictly for my... private collection."

XXXXX

A pony walked through the halls of the ship near the cryo tubes before holding up a device and pressing a few buttons on it.

The screen read out: RIVIVE GILDA?

The pony pressed a few more buttons and a cryotube was deposited into a large chamber.

A Griffon fell into the chamber before rushing up and slaming into the front of the glass with a maniacle grin before saying, "miss me?"

The pony looked down at the screen: PURGE?

She pressed the button as another screen came up: DELOUSE?

And pressed that one as well.

Gilda backed up as a see through smoke was discharged into the cannister, she held her arm up and waved her pit, "mmm, fresh as a daisy."

The pony knelt in front of the cannister and placed some clothes and a gun in a draw before sliding it into the cannister, "suit up and report. It must be something big for them to take you off the ice after the shit you pulled." the mare spat.

Gilda laughed as she pulled her pistol out, "sister... I certainly aim to find out."

XXXXX

Octavia and Vinyl led Dash through the art room when the cyan mare spoke up, "OK, you go through all the trouble to catch these guys, and this is what you do with them?"

"You're misssing the point." Octavia responded.

"What point?" Dash asked, "you got a million UDs in here collecting dust."

Octavia stopped by one of the stallions, "you underestimate their value Rainbow. They are priceless." she held her hands out to the 'statues, "each, at one time, the most wanted mare or stallion in the known universe. The number of lives ended at the hands of those living and breathing in this room is... incalculable!"

Dash scrunched her lips, "aint what I call living."

Octavia chuckled, "just the same." she cupped a stallion's face, "I assure you, they are all very much alive; each one sustained in a form of cryo so profound, that seconds seem weeks, and to blink an eye, is a day's work. The brain however, continues to think, feel, and function unimpeded; filled with whatever dark thoughts it's trapped along with."

Octavia led them past a red curtain to an elevated stage over looking a small pit arena, "as it will be for hundreds of years." she continued, "so much more fitting then dropping them off at the nearest slam."

Dash looked around at the ponies lined along the stage.

"Here, they are appreciated for what they truly are. Tranformed into objects on par with their life's work. And why? Because I gave them the audience they so desperately desired!" Octavia's voice went shaky with excitement as her cheeks began to flush; "the recognition they bouth with the blood of others!" she panted as if she were in heat and turned to Dash, "I understood their actions; stripped free of moral convention. Don't you see?!"she exclaimed with her face inches away from Dash, her eyes wide and manic.

What Rainbow first thought was a just another cold self-hating mercenary, she now recognized as a completely fucking insane nobel mare with too much money and too much time on her hands.

Octavia stood back and held her hands out to the sides, "they're something greater now Rainbow! Something greater than they ever were before... _art_."

Vinyl watched through her rave shades as Dash stared and said, "lady... your taste sucks..."

Octavia's head dropped in dissapointment as she sighed, "I... expected as much... Vinyl?"

The Unicorn pressed a button on her control pad and the curtains blocking off the stage from the arena opened.

Octavia smiled and stepped forth with her arms clasped behind her back, "you see Rainbow... there is a fundamental difference between you and I."

Rainbow turned to the Earth Pony, "ya... you're a psychopath..." coming from a serial killing Universe's most wanted, that's saying something!

Octavia merely gave a close eyed smiled before holding her hand out in front of her pointed her finger out as if to say 'tsk tsk' "You... don't apreciate art." then she cupped Dash's face with both her hands, "but I believe this is because of something very different then you or anypony else might think."

Dash yanked her head away in disgust.

Octavia continued, "you're an artist."

Dash scowled, "I've been called a lot of things in my day... that ain't one of 'em!"

Octavia looked out to the arena, "you _make_ art Rainbow, not analyze it; you shape it with your won hands, carve from flesh and bone" she giggled, "but a mare like you does not understand such a thing by being lectured." she turned to Vinyl, "you must experience it."

Vinyl pressed a few buttons and the lights went out replaced by red under lights from the floor.

Rainbow turned around, "oh... shit..." she stepped to the edge of the stage and looked into the pit to see Scootaloo and Fluttershy with their wings tied to their chests; standing up on large metal spheres with their hands bound wiht cuffs and a long rope hanging from the ceiling; the bottom of the rope was synched around their neck like a noose.

Scootaloo looked up and gave a weak chuckle, "heh... I said I'd find you didn't I?"

Dash glared at Octavia, "what do you want?"

Octavia smiled, "to watch you work. I've spent the later half of my life observing fantastic things." she walked over to Dash's other side, "the work of terrible ponies, ponies such as yourself... but it's always... after the fact... when the moment of bloody creation is cold and past." she signaled to Vinyl, "that... changes now."

Vinyl pressed another button and a chamber in the bit began to open.

Octavia lay down upon a lounge couch, "I need to see it Rainbow Dash, I need to see it with my own eyes; as it happens."

Rainbow's corner lip, eye, and ear all twitched in bearly restrained anger; she leaned in close to Octavia, "I get out of there alive... you'll see it again, this close."

Octavia closed the distance even further only an inch away from Rainbow's face, "no Dash, I want.." she pushed Dash's knife against her chin, "you're masterpiece." Rainbow stood up.

"An artist is nothing without her instrument." Octavia said before tossing the knife through the air and letting it land in the metal of the stage.

vinyl wlaked over as Dash knelt down and picked it up; when she returned to a standing position; she looked into Vinyl's shades, "when we meet again... I'm gonna burry this... in your eye." Dash then lifted her goggles up. Vinyl pointed at the pit as Octavia said, "let her in."

Two ponies approached Dash, one of which was the stallion that hit her across the face earlier.

She turned around and kicked him in the face at an angle knocking him down; the second pony rushed her but she ducked low and jumped with an uppercut with her wrists still bound and knocked him out.

The stallion from earlier trid to tackle her from behind, she flipped him over and used him as a cushion as she lept from the stage into the pit.

Octavia placed the detonator on a glass table nearby before picking up a special ocular set; the kind used for watching operas and said, "go ultraviolet."

Vinyl pressed a button and the room went dark.

From the section of the arena that opened, two creatres stepped in from a cage; tall colorful beings with no eyes or mouths; from their center globes which continuously glowed and change in flourescent color; extented various tendrils which whipped about.

Fluttershy whimpered, "I was on a pilgrimage... just a pilgrimage."

Scootaloo swallowed, "this is bad huh?"

Dash stared at the Shrill, "give it a minute..." Finally, the Shrill each settled on a color, one pink and one emerald. "Fluttershy? Pray."

The stallion form earlier pulled out his gun and shot at the green Shrill; it dodged with unimaginable speed and went dark, dissipearing into the shadows; then two tendrils grabbed him as the Shrill lit up again, his gun fired off blindly.

The two tendrils closed from the base of the globe towards the stallion like a zipper closing and the zipper itself was a needle which injected the stallion with an oozing liquid.

The stallion cried in horrifying agony as his body twisted and turned, melting from this inside out until his entire body began to glow the same emerald as the Shrill and his body disolved.

Dash stared at the Shrill while Fluttershy and Scootaloo's eyes widened in a mix of shock and terror.

The Pink Shrill danced around, switching from blacking out to flashing its light. Dash dodged a few of the tendrils and then grabbed on to one but with a flick, it sent her flying through the air and crashing into the sphere underneath Scootaloo; without the support and unable to use her wings, she began to choke on the noose strangling her.

Fluttershy rolled her own sphere over to Scootaloo and they both stood on it.

Rainbow got back up and looked at the Pink Shrill; from its back rose a large and very sharp stinger. It whipped its tendrils at her, but Dash kept swiping her knife to keep it at bay.

The Green Shrill approached Fluttershy and Scootaloo. The yellow Pegasus grabbed the top of her rope while Sootaloo put her arms around the mare's neck for support. Fluttershy then kicked off and rolled the sphere at the Shrill hitting it like a bowling ball and rolling it to the other side of the room; it squealed in in pain.

Fluttershy was beginning to lose her grip on the rope with the combined weight of her and Scootaloo. Dash turned around and rushed towards the Green Shrill; using it for leverage as she lept off and spread her wings to soar through the arena before slicing through the rope.

Scootaloo and Fluttershy screamed as the fell until they landed with an 'oof!' and coughed a few times.

"Get her on her hooves..." Dash instructed.

Fluttershy stood up and waved her arms around emphatically, "I can't see!"

Rainbow stared at the two recovering Shrill, "you don't... want to.."

The Pink Shrill launched a barrage of tendrils at Rainbow, but she easily sidestepped each and every one. Then it launched its stinger which Rainbow had been waiting for; she lifted her hands up and the stinger shattered her handcuffs; then she flipped her knife around so the blade protruded from the pinkie side of her hand and ducked low, "you wanna go? Let's go."

Another tendril was launched at her, but this time she dodged and counterattacked slicing it off causing the Shrill to squeal and flail its limbs around in agony.

XXXXX

Octavia smiled from above, "beautiful, beautiful creature..." she licked her lips.

Vinyl nodded, "Shrill are an exquisite species."

Octavia rolled her eyes, "I'm talking about the mare..."

XXXXX

The Pink and Green Shrills licked their tendrils around before each darted off to a different side of the arena goint dark. Then the Pink Shrill appeared beside Scootaloo lifting its stinger. Sudenly one of the large spheres crashed into it smashing it against the wall.

It tried to crawl over just as Dash whipped past like a bulled and slashed across the Shrill's globe. the creature squelched and sputtered before falling to the ground, its lights fading for good.

Dash spun around just as the Green Shrill's tendrils locked onto her wrists and spun her around in the air.

"NO!" cried Scootaloo, she ran forward grabbing the Pink Shrill's severed tendril and wrapped it around the Green Shrill's stinger. The Shrill screeched and sent a tendril flying backwards at Scootaloo knocking her down; she shook her head and saw the knife inches away from her.

The Green Shrill launched its stinger at Dash but she yanked one of the tendrils binding her in the stinger's path causing it to be sliced open.

"Rainbow!" Scootaloo shouted as she held the knife up.

"HERE!" Dash exclaimed. The filly tossed the knife and Dash caught it in mid air before flapping her wings to elevate her high into the arena ceiling with the other tendril still locked around her; then she let elasticity do its job as the stretched limb yanked her back like a rubber band; she used the momentum to burry her knif into the Shrill's globe.

The Shrill squeaked and hiccuped, swaying a few times before falling dead; the knife still burried in its body.

Dash knelt panting on the ground as Octavia clapped her hands from above; the lights came back on and Dash placed her goggles to their original position.

"Bravo!" Octavia cheered, "the grace! The expression! The sheer... Violence of it!" she panted with her cheeks flushed, "excuisite..."

Down in the arena; Dash whispered out the corner of her mouth, "shiv..."

Fluttershy whispered back, "what?"

"Give... me... the knife..."

Fluttershy descretely pulled the knife from the dead Shrill.

Octavia continued none the wiser, "such complete and thorough performance, it... leaves only one question."

Scootaloo gulped, "I have a feeling you're not gonna like it.."

Octavia closed her eyes in a graceful sigh; as she did so, Fluttershy tossed the knife to Rainbow.

"How will I ever have you mounted to do it justice? On the wall? In the spire? Perhaps in an expresionist pose?"

Dash ignored her and brought the knife up to her neck.

Octavia blinked, "what are you..." her eyes widened as Dash stabbed a small cut into the spot where the explosive had been injected. Her eyes whipped over to the detonator.

Rainbow dug her finger into the wound as Scootaloo cringed.

Octavia got ahold of the device just as Dash pulled the bomb out.

Octavia's fingers fumbled the detonator.

Scootaloo made a 'blech' face before getting a look at athe small explosive, "you gonna keep that?" she asked.

"Looks like you'll have to be an abstract piece!" Octavia exclaimed as she grabed the detonator.

"DOWN, NOW!" Dash yelled before hurling the bomb at the side of the arena.

Octavia pressed the button and the bomb blew a hole in the wall.

The three Pegasi sprinted through the hole. Octave gripped the edge of the stage's bar as her eyes widened and her breath raced; "we'll need to rouse a substantial persuit force!" she said, panic and terror piercing through her normally refined voice.

Vinyl turned her head, "who?" she asked incredulously.

"EVERYPONY! EVEN THE HYDRAS! EVERY LIVING PONY, DIAMOND DOG, GRIFFON, DRAGON, AND THING THAT CAN HOLD A WEAPON!" She shrieked like a banshee as she turned to Vinyl and got right in her face, crunching her hoof into Vinyl's, "EVERY! LAST! ONE! NOW!"

XXXXX

Inside of the cryo bay...

Ponies who slept peacefully in cryo were suddenly brought to life; pony after pony after pony after Griffon, after Dragon; every mercenary in the entire sectore was revived.

Meanwhile, Gilda made her way into the command center of the ship and sat in one of the tech chairs; "alright... just what's the big deal?" she brought up the most recent log.

BOUNTY: 1,126,000

Gilda's eyes bulged, "jumping Dragon cock!"

She broguht up the details log; "oh! Come to mama you beautiful rainbow maned bastard!"

"Gilda! What in the hell are you doing?" called one of the other mercenaries.

"Just gathering intel." Gilda answered.

"Ya well, stow it, we got a couple of runners to bring in, shoot on site." the merc replied.

Gilda gave a salute, "yes mam."

XXXXX

The three Pegasi raced through the area.

XXXXX

Gilda and three Dragons walked into the arena. Gilda lookd around at the carnage, "what in the hell happened here..." she said with a cocked eyebrow.

One of the Dragons turned to her, "shot up and take point."

Gilda searched around and glanced up at Octavia, the Griffon smirked and gave a salute with a cheeky smirk before continuing through the improv exit that Dash had made.

Octave glared down at the arena with wide slightly shaking eyes filled with a chaotic cocktail of emotions; fear, rage, excitement, panic, arousal, disgust.

XXXXX

The Pegasi rounded a corner in the ship's interior when the most bizarre noise sounded behind them, "what the hell was that?" asked Scootaloo.

Fluttershy turned around as did Rainbow who said, "don't... move..."

XXXXX

Several Diamond Dogs and Dragons attempted to restrain the mutated Hyrdra as it roared and stomped along the arena. One of the Diamond Dogs rupped a riding crop in a splatter of Dash's blood before the Hyrda sniffed it a few times; one of its heads snapping the entire crop up and devouring it. "Turn it loose!" said the Diamond Dog before diving out of the way.

The Diamond Dogs and Dragons released the ethers and the Hydra charged through the hole, each of its heads snarling as it went.

XXXXX

Rainbow flapped her wings hopping up onto a high ledge before helping Scootaloo up. Lights shined on her and she turned to see Gilda and the Dragons just as they started to fire at her.

Dash yanked her up onto the ledge as Fluttershy flew up and the three sprinted down the hallway.

"All you alright?" Fluttershy asked.

"Alight?! She almost tore me in half?!" Scootaloo balked.

"Just a graze... this time..."

XXXXX

The Hyrda charged through the halls, smashing into the walls and denting the reinforced titanium wieht one of the Diamond Dog handlers still dragging behind him as his paw had gotten tangled in the tether; flailing his legs and arm the whole way.

XXXXX

The Dragons climbed up the incredibly tall tower towards the ledge in which the Pegasi had flown; their armor and weapons weighing them down too much for flight.

Gilda suddenly paused as she heard an unholy roar; her head twisted around as her eyes widened, "THAT BITCH!" she then undid her armor and flew up the rest of the way passing the Dragons. "MOVE!" she commanded.

XXXXX

Rainbow ran through the halls, how long had she been running? Either way, she still had stamina to spare.

Fluttershy however was starting to wear down; Scootaloo was bearly even keeping up.

Rainbow suddenly paused. Fluttershy keeled over next to her and panted, "we... can... not.. stop." she said between gasps for breath.

"We're not outrunning this thing..." Dash said ominously, "not the three of us."

Scootaloo looked up from her panting perch, "wh-what? I c-I can keep up!"

Dash looked around the hallways having worked out most of the ship's design in her head based on hundreds of similar ships she'd been on; "maybe one day" she pointed up, "get her to the flight deck."

"Just left? Up a level?"

"Ya... you two stow away in here and let whatever's coming pass. don't come out no matter what you hear." Dash instructed as the other two Pegasi slid into a crevis within the walls.

"W-we'll wait for you!" called Scootaloo.

"Follow Fluttershy!" commanded Dash before she ran off.

Rainbow cut her arm with her knife allowing a trail of blood to follow her wake.

After a few minutes, Gilda and the other mercs ran past Scootaloo and Fluttershy, Gilda paused when she saw the blood trail, she looked up at the ceiling and around for a few moments before continuing on.

Scootaloo leaned in, "now where are we gonna go to meet up with Rai-" "-shh!" Fluttershy clasped a hand over Scootaloo's mouth. Something big came... something HUGE.

Stomping sounded throughout the area as the Hydra darted past. For a split second, Fluttershy and Scootaloo froze in terror at the creature's sheer size as it tore the floor, ceiling, and walls apart in its gait. And then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone... and they also noticed the distinct screaming of a Diamond Dog along the way... strange...

Only when its stomping faded into the background did the Peagasi risk leaving the crevice.

"we... we have to help her Fluttershy! We can't help her if we leave!" Scootaloo cried dismaly.

Fluttershy put a hand on her shoulder, "sometimes... that is exactly how it works."

XXXXX

The Dragons and Griffon made their way to a dead end, "sweep the area."

One of the Dragons noticed something on the ground, Dash's black tank top; he picked it up, "I got somethings."

Gilda's beak fell open, "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

The stomping of the Hydra sounded out.

"OH shit..."

The Mercs turned to face the direction of the beast while holding their figners pressed against the triggers of their guns.

All of the mercs gapped at the massive size of the beast as it roared before they let loose everything they had. Which wasn't much in retrospect as their bullets hit the creature's thick muscled chest.

Gilda watched as one by one they were devoured, she turned and shot an arrigation pipe open with her gun before diving in; her body shot along the water system just before the Hydra snapped one of its mouths on the metal.

Then, one of the heads looked up at a wellway; Rainbow came falling down it with her knife letting out a battle cry before digging the blade into one of the Hydra's eyes.

XXXXX

Dash huffed and puffed before cracking her neck, she stood up next to the Hydra's corpse covered in a mix of their combined blood.

She picked up her trashed tank top, "I aint putting that back on.." and tossed it. Only bandage gauze wrapped around her chest keeping her torso decent.

XXXXX

A pannel on the flight deck slid open as Fluttershy climbed out not seeing Vinyl standing behind her on the floor. As Fluttershy poked her head out, Vinyl whacked her gun on the edged of Fluttershy's head knocking her out. Then she dragged her body out of the hole.

Scootaloo, only seeing Fluttershy's body move up the latter, followed behind her when Vinyl grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her in the air.

Vinyl glared into Scootaloo's soul.

Scootaloo punched Vinyl in the face cracking one of her shades causing Vinyl to roar and slam her against the wall crushing her throat with an unrelenting squeeze. Scootaloo flipped her off before banging futily against her muscled arm.

"Let her go."

Vinyl turned and released Scootaloo; there stood Dash walking towards her, "it's me you're after; wanna shot at the title?"

Vinyl took off her trench coat pulling her gun out.

Dash drew her knife and Vinyl slid her Sono Saber out and took up a fencing stance. The two killers squared off.

Then they charged in; Dash went to stab but Vinyl's sword kept her at a distance so she kicked the blade up with her hoof before bearing her knife down; Vinyl ducked; Dash slashed, Vinyl dodged.

Dash stabbed again but Vinyl sidestepped and thrust with her sword; Dash narrowly moved her head out of the way and swung her free hand up clocking Vinyl across the jaw; Vinyl responded by slamming her elbow into the side of Dash's face knocking her back a bit.

Vinyl whirled her body around before slicing at Rainbow who dodged and spun around to deliver a round house kick at Vinyl's exposed ribs sending her forward with the momentum.

The two whiped the blood from their mouths and once again circled each other.

Rainbow dashed forward for a stab up Vinyl hopped back before whipping around with both her legs roundhousing Dash in the face; she spun around and Vinyl used the opening do bear her sword down.

Dash recovered too quickly for her and tackled the Unicorn into a wall putting her free hand put in such a way that her fist was against Vinyl's wrist as the Unicorn tried to reach her with the sword; but likewise, Vinyl caught Dash's wrist as she tried to stab her with the knife.

They both grunted and struggled as the blades grew closer and closer towards one another. Then Vinyl lifted her leg and kicked Rainbow in th face knocking her back.

From there, they traded actualy blade attacks, catching each other's strike on their own weapon.

Vinyl had had enough, with a glow of her horn; her sword began to vibrate with wubs until the plasma rod within reached such a high frequency of movement that the Sono Saber activated; with a slash, she sliced Dash's knife in half sending the blade spinning through the air while she held only the handle.

Rainbow looked at the empty handle for a few moments thinking 'really?'

Then Vinyl slashed at her with the glowing saber's wooshing sound making the attacks easy to track for Rainbow, she dodged, then sidestepped a parry and rushed in hooking her right arm around Vinyl's sword arm and using her lift hand to grip the Unicorn's wrist and yank it upward cranking it in an Aikido hold.

Vinyl's body betrayed her and she dropped the sword; her leg kicked out and she hit Dash's knee, then she teleported behind her and dropped low before bouncing up with an uppercut nailing Dash in the jaw.

Vinyl's horn began to glow and her forarms, fists, shins, and hooves were surrounded with vibrating wubs; she delivered two hooks with each fist across Dash's face, the massive froce from the sound energy almost sent her flying.

Dash then dodged a third swing and sent a straight punch into Vinyl's jaw. Vinyl swung agin and missed; Dash hit, Vinyl hit, Dash hit, Vinyl hit, Dash hit; both clocking each other in the skull; breacking each other's ribs; slamming elbows into each other's leg muscles; even kicking each other in the groin.

The two bombarded one another with all matter of strikes; kicks, elbows, kneese, and a hell of a lot of punches.

Eventually, Vinyl resorted to relying almost solely on magic and teleported around Dash with each it, then blinking away before Rainbow could counter.

Then plinked into existence in front of her and side kicked her into the electrical breaker; the metal plade slid off and Dash fell to the ground, panting and bleeding.

Vinyl didn't look much better but she was still standing. She went for her sword as Dash noticed the power cord of the electrical circuit.

Vinyl walked back over, panting, she swung her blade but Dash rolled under it and grabbed hold of the power cord; she whipped it over Vinyl and the cord wrapt itself around the mare's neck. She then began strangling the mare forcing Vinyl to cut the cord with her sword.

...

She immediately wished she hadn't...

The lights went dark...

Underneath her shades, Vinyl's eyes widened in panick, "no..."

Hooves moving... Vinyl whipped around and swung her sword blindly in the dark, the Sono Saber's glow the only light; a sound... to the left? The right? Behind?

"Above." Dash landed on Vinyl knocking her to the floor holding the broken blade of the knive like a shiv and burrying it in Vinyl's eye just as she said she would.

Vinyl cried out in pain as blood pulled under her shades and spilt out onto the floor below while Dash glared into her eyes with her own shining magenta orbs.

The auxilery lights flickered on and the last thing Vinyl saw with her good eye was Dash's look of combat rage before she died.

Dash released the knife and Vinyl's corpse fell to the ground, "I told ya that was coming..."

Fluttershy finally woke up and saw Dash limping towards the escape shuttle sector, "where... where are you going?" the yellow mare inquired.

"Gonna prep a ship and get off this heat." Dash replied.

Fluttershy warily continued, "so... _we_... can escape?"

Dash made a 'follow me' wave of her arm.

Fluttershy smiled.

Dash opened up the docking hatch of the escape ship. Fluttershy helped Scootaloo up cooing, "it's over now... it's over... we have survived."

A panting... Dash turned to the car hatch; as it opened it revealed Octavia, huffing and panting in ragged breaths, her eye and ears twitching, her mane a chaotic mess; she held an ancient double barrel flintlock pistol with golden encrustments in her hand. She pulled one of the triggers hitting Dash in the chest knocking her on her ass; the bullet bit into her flesh but it didn't go very deep.

"BACK TO HELL WITH YOU!" Octavia roared as she stood over Dash and pointed the gun at her head, "YOU BLOODY STINKING SAVAGE!"

...

A gunshot sounded...

...

...

...

Rainbow Slowly got up on her hands and kneese and turned to see Scootaloo holding Vinyl's gun; her face a petrified look of horror and disbelief as smoke lifted off the gun in her hands.

Octavia lay on the ground in a pool of her own blood; her head completely obliterated.

Finally, Scootaloo found her voice, "ya... we made it..." her eyes trailed from the gun her hands to the blood seeping across the floor pooling around the remnants of Octavia's colar.

"awfully uncivilized thing you just did there Scootaloo..." Dash quietly said.

XXXXX

The escape ship left the Merc Vessel and soared out into space.

Fluttershy put her hand on Dash's shoulder, "Rainbow... "

"Trouble?" Dash guessed.

"Yes... it is nothing back there... but what worries me lies ahead of us..." Fluttershy softly replied.

Dash turned her head and looked back at the passenger seats, "Scootaloo..."

The orange filly lay in an uneasy fitful sleep curld up to Viny-no... to _her_ gun.

Fluttershy frowned, "I am... concerned for her Rainbow that she'll become..."

"Like me." Dash half asked, half answered.

On the screen a few coordinates blipped about. Then a planet popped up in the UV system. Fluttershy frowned as she looked at it, "what is that place?"

"That's nowhere." Dash curtly answered, 'exactly where I'm headed.' she added in her head. With a few switches, NEW EVERFREE- HELION PRIME popped up. "I'm dropping you guys on New Everfree."

The ship sailed for its new corse.

XXXXX

Back in the Merc Vessel; Gilda drudged her way out of the arrigation system into a pool filter of all things; she didn't know there was a pool in this place! She kicked the grate in and swam up to the surface; all around mercs had completely abandoned the ship; food, weapons, UDs everything was ransacked and gone.

Gilda made her way to the helm of the ship and peered out the glass at the escape vessel's slowing dissapearing form in the deep space. She glared into the cluster of black marred with white dots, "we're not done Rainbow Dash... not by a long shot."

/***********/****************

Rainbow Dash: Pitch Black.

Rainbow Dash: Dark Furry.

THE END.


	6. My other Movie Based Stories

My other movie-based stories:

Dash, Dog of War. -Soldier-

Trixie the Manifique. -Vatel-

Sisters in Blood and Magic, a Tale of Witches and Love. -Practical Magic-

Warriors of Harmony. -Warriors of Virtue-

The Legend of Celestia Futarius. -300, Troy, Gladiator, The Legend of Awesomest Maximus-

Rainbow Dash: Pitch Black. -Riddick-


End file.
